


The Saga Of The Children Of Loki

by Marie_Phantom



Series: Tumbleweed (Blowing In The Wind) [12]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Greek Mythology, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Mythology, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Mpreg, Multi, Odin's A+ Parenting, Offstage Rape, Sinking Of The Titanic, Underage Sex, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-08 18:53:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3219710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_Phantom/pseuds/Marie_Phantom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of the children of Loki.</p><p>How they were born, how they grew up and how they became the people they were now. What shaped them, and how they in turn shaped the worlds they lived in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sleipnir

**Author's Note:**

> This is less about the relationships we know and more about fleshing out the characters that will appear more often in the stories.
> 
> Although Loki and Thor are many centuries old, I'll be using Midgardian ages to convey how young Loki and Thor were when events happened (and also because I'm too lazy to properly age them).
> 
> Visually Loki is a Fresian.
> 
> The Asgardians were Vikings, and however much you want to dress it up, raping and pillaging were part of that culture. There's no point sugar-coating it to make it seem nicer, because sometimes, people cane do terrible things.

Until that moment when he stood before his mother in the communal kitchen of Stark Tower, Sleipnir had never before appeared before his mother in his bipedal, human like form. This had not been deliberate. It had just never come up in all the years that Sleipnir had been alive.

But the story of Sleipnir, as the story of all of his children, begins with Loki. Or more specifically, the building of the wall that runs along the outskirts of Asgard. It's meant to be for the protection of the citizens, but only the wealthy and the court within the walls limits. The majority of Asgard, the workers and the peasants, the people who make up the taxpayers of Asgard, live outside the city limits. In the country-side where Loki and Thor used to roam as children.

For months, they watch as the wall was put up piece by piece. Loki, ever the outsider, spent more time around the great rose Svadilfari. He recognised a magic user when he saw one, and as a consequence was fascinated by the fact that Svadilfari was stuck in this form, forever. However, the horse still had the mind of a man, and when, one day, Loki was sitting on some rubble reading a book, he felt a gust of air over his shoulder, and the page he was reading flipped and settled on another.

"Bored, were you?" Loki murmerd. He felt Svadilfari rest his head on top of his, and he chuckled. They spent the afternoon like that, both reading until the light went and Loki, reluctantly, went back to the palace.

When the deadline came for the wall to be finished, and Odin, tightfisted as ever, found he didn't want to pay, he grabbed Loki by the arm (for he was once again hoping to read with Svadilfari), and dragged him over to the nearest dark corner.

"Do something." He growled at his son.

(Loki was 16, lanky with hair down to his waist. His eyes were almost too big for his head, and his hands were truly enormous, with fingers looking a meter long.)

Loki gaped at his father. "What?"

"Do. Something." Odin shook him hard, and Loki's teeth rattled in his head. For the first time in his life, he was afraid of his father.

"I...I don't... What?" Loki tried desperately to think of a sentence, but his mind was blank with fear.

Odin leaned in to Loki and stared his dead in the eyes. Loki was transfixed.

"He is not allowed to finish within the deadline." Odin said softly. Loki licked his dry lips.

"We have enough money, Father. We can pay him." He whispered. Odin shook his hard, again.

"I will not pay him. You will do something to make sure that he does not finish on time." Here Odin sneered slightly and released Loki's arm. "For once your magic might be of some benefit to us."

"I can't..." Loki swallowed hard and tried again, fingers making prints into the leather of the book. "I don't know what..."

"You do something." Odin straightened up and smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes. He turned and started to walk away, but stopped and said over his shoulder. "If you fail, if this builder succeeds, I will have you executed for treason in front of all of Asgard."

If Loki was the fainting type, he would have collapsed there and then. Instead, he leaned back against the stone wall in agony, and tried to will his mind into thinking of something, anything, that would work. Nothing came up.

Loki bit into his fist and suppressed a whimper of fear. He peered around the corner of the building and saw that Svadilfari was busy dragging stones to the wall. He pressed his lips together and did not flinch when he heard Odin raise his voice in anger with the builder. He felt cold and sick.

When he saw the builder walk towards Svadilfari, Odin trailing him, he did the only thing that popped into his mind at that moment. He shook out his limbs and dropped the book. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, letting his magic flow through his veins. He was attempting his first large full body transformation.

He felt his bones move and shift. His hair grew longer and raced up his body. His fingers and toes came together and hardened. His clothes burst at the seams, unable to contain his changing. He groaned in agony.

There was whispering and pointing when Loki stepped out of the dark. Thor, hair tangled about his face and limbs taking their final burst of growth into adulthood, stepped forward with a hand raised. The others, the Warriors Three and the court, all stepped back, whispering and pointing. Loki continued to shake and shudder, flesh twitching. His head hung towards the ground.

"Loki?" Thor whispered in shock and he touched Loki gently on the neck. Immediately Loki danced away, shying and shaking. His green eyes (never something he could change) rolled with fear. In a second, he saw Odin smiled grimly, and he turned and raced towards Svadilfari.

Loki was lucky there was a downwind at his back, blowing his scent towards Svadilfari. The great horse paused in his labours and snorted, breathing in more of the scent of a mare in heat. He raised his great head and looked at Loki, who was standing there, shaking. Svadilfari breathed in again, and whinnied, to which Loki flattened his ears and moved away. Svadilfari moved towards him, and Loki continued to move back. They danced like this for a while, until Svadilfari, mad with lust, suddenly charged. Loki turned and fled.

Odin smiled and turned to the gobsmacked builder. "I think you'll find that's a breach of contract." He said. He would have said more, except Frigga grabbed him by the hair and, in front of the entire court, roared at Odin,

"WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Loki never heard any of this. He would not see his parents or his brother for many years. Instead, she ran and ran and ran. She operated solely on fear, knowing that if she stopped, terrible things would happen. Behind her, she could hear the heavy beats of Svadilfari as he raced after her.

They ran for a day and a night, never stopping. 

But eventually, Loki slowed. She was younger than Svadilfari, not used to this body, and as she slowed, she mentally prepared herself for what was to come.

Nothing could prepare her. Loki had been (to the mocking of everyone) a virgin up until that point. But as Svadilfari covered her, she wished she could cry.

When Svadilfari was finished, when his concise returned and he could think for himself again and not as a beast, he stepped back from the shaking mare and started making the most terrible sounds. Loki ignored him, concentrating on standing on his own legs. 

Svadilfari looked at Loki with glazed eyes, and spent the rest of the night away from her, protecting her but otherwise letting her deal with it in her own way.

But when Loki tried to change back and found he couldn't, it was her turn to make terrible noises. Svadilfari, startled out of sleep, crept up to Loki and gently, so that he wouldn't be kicked, sniffed her. Being a former magic user, he immediately identified the scent of pregnancy, and he closed his eyes in grief. He nudged the panicking Loki gently on the neck, and when Loki did not respond, took his mane gently between his teeth and started to lead him to a nearby river, where the soft sand would be a good writing tool.

He left Loki to drink, and when Loki was finished, stepped up and with his hoof spelled out ' _You cannot change back because you are pregnant._ '

Loki stared at the writing, then at Svadilfari, then at the writing again. She started to shake her head. Svadilfari nudged her and pointed to the word pregnant again. Loki turned her head and heaved, bringing up nothing. Svadilfari left to drink himself and let Loki process this however she could.

They spent a day and a night by the river, before Loki roused herself to come and stand by Svadilfari and write in turn ' _What happens now?_ '

' _Now I protect you until the child is born._ '

And he did. For the nine months of Loki's pregnancy, he led Loki around the Realm Eternal, keeping out of the way of people. Svadilfari showed Loki where the fastest places to eat were, he kept watch whilst Loki slept, he made sure Loki was as comfortable as possible as his body swelled with child. Loki was still a boy in many respects, and panicked when he noticed that he was growing bigger and bigger.

It took Svadilfari 3 days to find him again, and then Loki had calmed down enough to be found. She still wouldn't let Svadilfari near him, but even she recognised that Svadilfari was far more superior when it came finding food.

When the time came for Loki to give birth, Svadilfari lead the sweating and shaking mare to a secluded grove, where Loki collapsed almost immediately. For the rest of the night, He lay beside Loki as the mare groaned and struggled with labour. 

After many hours, Loki finally stood up abruptly and gave birth to his foal, who immediately squealed and kicked out of his membrane. Loki stood there for a minute, seating, before turning back and tearing away the membrane from his child. Svadilfari nudged Loki's neck and lipped him a thank you, his heart almost bursting a he beheld his child for the first time. But elation turned into confusion when the foal started to stand and both Loki and Svadilfari saw that the baby had twice as many legs as normal. He threw a confused glance at Loki, who returned it. But Loki went behind her foal, and nudged his backside in an effort to help him stand. Her heart fluttered when she saw that she had given birth to a son.

Svadilfari went to the edge of the clearing and checked to see that they were alone, and then walked back to his mate and son. He would have smiled if he could, at the sight of his elegant mate trying to help his newborn son try to stand. 

'Although how he is going to walk or even run properly with that amount of legs, I have no idea.' He thought to himself.

But walk he did. And run. And he was  _fast_.

Lok stayed in the form of a mare for quite a time, as he recognised that Sleipnir, his newly christened son, needed to nurse. Svadilfari snickered quietly to himself at the expression on Loki's face the first time Sleipnir had insistently pushed him to find a nipple. Loki had, to her own dismay, nearly kicked her son in surprise, and it was only Sleipnir's surprisingly loud squeal that stopper her.

They spent a long time wandering from glade to glade, Svadilfari racing his son and his mate. Loki nursed Sleipnir for as long as possible, in order to give Sleipnir as much magic from his veins as possible. 

One day, Svadilfari woke up to hear Sleipnir squealing in fright. He turned his head and found Loki standing by a tree, in his normal form, his eyes wary. His hair was wild around his waist, and Svadilfari could see that, although his stomach was firm with muscles, there were faint silvery stretch marks. He looked at Svadilfair through lowered lids, face frozen in surpassed fear. Svadilfari snorted and went up to him, nosing his hair until Loki laughed and went to his panicking son. He allowed Sleipnir to sniff, to remind his son that he was still his mother, just in a different form. Sleipnir quickly nosed up to Loki rubbing his head against Loki's stomach and looking at him with dark liquid eyes.

Svadilfari watched with contentment as Loki chased his son around, laughing at Sleipnirs squeals. This was his family, and he was content.

They travelled for 5 years, Loki alternating between his own horse form and travelling on the back of Svadilfari. Sleipnir remained a foal for a long time, leggy and tripping over himself. He delighted in racing his father, knowing that he would always win. At night, he curled up alongside his mother, breathing in her familiar scent and knowing that he was safe.

 

 

**********

 

 

One day, Svadilfari disappeared looking for a new glade. Two days later, Loki came storming out of the woods.

"It is time to go home." He said to his son, and turned and walked back to Asgard.

Sleipnir would later look back and realise that that moment was when he stopped being a child.

 

 

***********

 

 

(Loki would never tell his son of finding his mates body, head stoved in by a hammer wielded by the ruined builder from so many years ago.

That day was the first time Loki had ever killed someone.

It would not be the last.)

 

 

***********

 

 

Loki entrance into Asgard would be noted down for the ages, as he walked straight into a Court meeting, naked as a babe and with a half grown 8 legged horse following him. He bowed mockingly at his father, sat frozen on the throne, and gestured behind him.

"Behold, my son Sleipnir. The fastest being in the Nine Realms. Is that good enough for you, Father?"

(Odin was sleeping in a separate room from Frigga, and had been since Loki was run, terrified, into the forest. He would be sleeping in the room for a long time after Loki had returned as well.)

"Loki." Frigga breathed and moved down the steps towards her son. She saw his newly built frame, how a young man stood before her where once she had a boy. How his stomach shone with silvery marks of pregnancy. She knew that Loki was keeping his legs together, lest the Court know of his real secret. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and brought him down to her own shoulder. Loki rested his head on her and heaved a sob, concealing it in the fabric of her clothing.

He jumped when warm fabric encased his body, and lifted his eyes to see Thor wrapping his cloak around him, covering his nakedness in front of the course. He turned when he heard Sleipnir whinny in confusion and butt his head against Loki's back.

"Your son." Odin said. He waved his hand to dismiss the Court (who filtered out reluctantly) and came down to join the family. But he did not touch Loki. Instead he walked around his grandson, appraising him.

"Has he been broken?" he asked. Loki whirled around in outrage.

"My son is not cart horse. He is the mightiest steed, and he is more intelligent than most of the Court."

Odin snorted. "He is a horse."

"Born of two magic users." Loki seethed through gritted teeth. "I assure you, he is twice as intelligent as anyone on your council."

Odin pursed his lips in thought. Eventually he said "Can he shift as you can?"

Here Loki frowned. "I don't think so."

The Royal Family stood in silence, before Frigga drew Loki away to his bedroom. Sleipnir tried to follow, but a firm hand on his neck prevented him. Loki would have protested, but Frigga waved her hand in front of his eyes, and he slumped into Thor's arms as sleep overtook him.

(He missed Sleipnir giving Odin a dark look, and he missed Sleipnir stomping on Odin's foot, causing the King to cry out loudly and hop to the stables.)

 

 

**********

 

 

Sleipnir supposed he would have protested being kept in the stables like a common beast, but he actually enjoyed having his own space, away from the intrigues of the court. He was self-aware enough, even at the young age, to know that he would not have had the freedom he had, should he have chosen to stay with his mother in the Palace. Instead, he had a roomy stable, and a field to roam, and all the apples he could eat.

Loki was outraged at first, until his young son literally spelled it out for him in the dirt. Loki then restricted himself to visiting for several hours each day. His combat instructor was furious.

When it came time for the young stallion to be broken, so that he could comfortably wear a saddle and bit, the items in question were brought to the field where Sleipnir was nibbling grass. The Court followed Odin, Loki bringing up the rear (his hair cut to the nape of his neck, a sign of impending adulthood) as the king strode into the field, the chief groom of the stables following.

"It is all ready for you, my lord." The groom bowed and stood backwards.

Sleipnir stopped eating when he saw his grandfather out of the corner of his eye, and he raised his head slowly. He was nearly full grown, standing at a colossal 21 hands, and he would grow another 5 inches before he stopped. He was not heavily built, but slender and lightweight. His coats was a solid grey with no dapples on it, and his mane and tail were long and silky. His eyes were grey as well, but human, with circular pupils rather than a horses eyes. 

And they were currently narrowed at Odin as he came closer, smiling a smile that Sleipnir did not believe for a second. He knew _exactly_  what the saddle and the bridle were for, and he would go to his grave not wearing them. A horse he may be most of the time (with the occasional random stable boy thrown in to confuse Loki), but he certainly didn't think like one.

He let Odin get closer and closer, allowing him to put a hand on his mane before being led over to the bridle. It was sitting in the dirt, and the Court of Asgard oohed and aahed at the show they were expecting.

Unseen, Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder and squeezed. Loki breathed deep and stood straighter.

When Odin bent down to pick up the bridle, he found it already gone. He straightened and saw Sleipnir looking at him with unamused eyes, the bridle held between his teeth.

"Sleipnir." Odin said, looking cross. Sleipnir's eyes narrowed further.

"Release that bridle so that I may put it on you."

Sleipnir shook his head. A member of the Court tittered "It's almost as if it could actually think." Loki's jaw clenched, there was a flash of green, and the women suddenly started shrieking as she discovered her long hair around her feet as she was spelled bald.

Odin meanwhile had been trying to get the bridle away from Sleipnir for some time, and had only succeeded in making the horse mad.

"Sleipnir, release that fucking bridle." He growled. Sleipnir snorted and shook his head again. Odin reached the end of his patience and held up his hand, about to spell the bridle onto Sleipnir, when Sleipnir bit down sharply. The leather gave way like butter, and the bridle fluttered to the ground, useless.

There was silence on the field as all eyes turned to Sleipnir. He shook out his mane and walked casually up to the saddle, where he proceeded to jump on the leather until it was reduced to strips lying in the dirt. When he finished with that, he kicked the ruined saddle and bridle over to Odin, sneezed at him and walked to where his mother and uncle were standing open mouthed.

"Sleipnir." Loki moaned faintly even as he stroked Sleipnir's nose. Thor's mouth closed and he started to grin, finding the whole situation highly amusing.

"Most excellent, my beloved nephew." He said, patting Sleipnir roughly on the neck. Sleipnir half closed his eyes in pleasure and shoved Thor to do it more.

Odin was steaming. Even his ravens weren't coming near.

When Sleipnir had enough scratches and pets, he walked back to his grandfather. He stood before the King and, looking him in the eye the entire time, spelled out in the dirt ' _I will wear no bit nor saddle. But I will carry the King, into battle and into peace. There is prestige in being the Kings mount, and I am your grandson, a member of this Court and a member of this Royal Family. Do not treat me like some common mule. Treat me with the respect I deserve, and you will have a mount that will tell everyone you are a King._ '

Odin read this, and when Sleipnir was finished and had wandered off to go and chase fillys, he walked up to Loki and stared at his second born.

"Your son has ambitions." He said. Most of the Court had wandered in by this time, and Frigga had dragged Thor off to continue his studies. But Loki had stayed, because he was a mother as well as a prince, and he wanted to see his boy.

"He is my son." Loki replied quietly.

 

 

***********

 

 

Sleipnir did bear Odin into battle many times, and came to develop some scars, since as well as bearing his grandfather and King, he was also defending him. He became well known throughout the Nine Realms.

That does not mean that this was without problems.

When Odin had led the army into Aflheim, he stood outside a small village, and roared to his men "Take what you want! Women, children, men, anything! It is yours!" He tried to turn Sleipnir towards the village, but the horse dug his hooves into the ground and did not move. Odin kicked Sleipnir viciously in the side and still the horse would not move. The men were starting to get restless as they waited to follow their king. But the king was not moving.

"Move, you bloody great beast!" Odin gritted out between his teeth. Sleipnir looked over his shoulder and glared at Odin, showing the white of his eye to prove he was not fooling around.

"You are my steed, and you will do what I say!"

'Nope." Sleipnir thought. He groaned as Odin once again dug into his side with his heels.

"Go towards that village! I order you to go towards that village." Odin roared angrily. "It is our right as conquerers."

Sleipnir was no idiot. He knew that his conception was a sore spot for his mother, and that not even his brothers knew about his birth. Jormungandr was starting to ask questions, but was still a hatchling and too young to understand. Little Fenrir was still trying to coordinate his two legs.

He abhorred rape. He would do anything to stop it. And so, as Odin continued to roar on, Sleipnir gathered his energy in his back legs, and then he bucked, as hard as he could.

Odin was launched over his head, flying 6 feet away and crashing to a sudden stop. He lay on the ground for several seconds, completely winded, and when he sat up, Sleipnir had taken off back to Asgard.

When Odin came back to Asgard a few days later, he walked loudly though the palace, proclaiming at the top of his lungs that he was going to turn Sleipnir in to glue for what he had done. Thor was taking care of his nephews as Loki was in Jotunheim (conceiving Hela), and when he saw Fenrir's green eyes covering with tears, he ushered his nephews quickly into his own bed, where he could take care of them better.

But Odin got the message, and never pushed Sleipnir into participating into the more abhorrent of Asgards activities.

Sleipnir never warmed to his grandfather, not lie he did to his grandmother and to his uncle. He stopped ageing around 25, when he first tasted the golden apples, as was traditional on Asgard. And he only got those because Thor would sneak into his stable at night cape, loaded with apples. He adored his brothers, giving them rides whenever they wanted. Jormungandr was the only one who figured out that the sharp eyed stable boy who played games with Thor and Loki, who fought with them and played chess with them was Sleipnir. Jormungandr was good at keeping secrets, and he never told.

But Sleipnir could never love Odin, because he was there when Jormungandr was cast into the seas of Midgard. He was the one who ran with Fenrir during his desperate and terror filled flight from Asgard. He carried his sister to her kingdom, and let her cry into his mane when she could not longer cry with her mother, for Loki had gone beyond shedding tears by that point. 

He had seen Odin destroy his family and his mother piece by piece, and he had done nothing, because what could he do? He was only the Kings steed.

Only a beast.

 

 

***********

 

 

The breaking point was when he was still blinking the light from his eyes when Thor came staggering into the field he was in, face streaked with tears. Sleipnir, with a heavy heart, nudged him, trying to get him to speak.

"My beloved nephew." Thor whispered. He put an arm around Sleipnirs neck and cried into his mane. Sleipnir closed his eyes. He knew what Thor was going to say.

"Loki went over the Bifrost."

They stood there for a long time, Thor crying loudly and Sleipnir shaking. But when Sleipnir raised his head and saw Odin standing by the gate, his shaking turned from sorrow to anger. Without a thought, he changed into the tall, handsome man he had always been. Thor staggered back in surprise, and hurried after Sleipnir as he stalked towards Odin.

"What did you do?" Sleipnir hissed. He pointed one long finger at Odin, who was also looking shocked.

"You couldn't change." He whispered. Sleipnir badly concealed a roar of outrage and seized Odin by his cloak, dragging him closer and spitting into his face.

"What did you say?" he hissed again. He felt clothes flutter over bis shoulder and dimly registered that Thor had covered him up with his own cloak.

"I said no." Odin gasped. His face screwed up and he tried and failed to conceal his tears. "I said no, and he let go."

Sleipnir released Odin and stepped back, sneering at his grandfather in disgust. They stood there for several minutes before Sleipnir heaved a great breath and started walking to the castle.

"Where are you going?" Thor called after him.

"Anywhere but here." Sleipnir replied.

He ransacked his mothers room (having found it by scent) stuffing everything he could into a bag. He pulled on Thor's clothes, the only ones that would fit, and still found them to be too short in the leg and arm. He was blowing his hair back from his face when gentle hands reached around and pulled his long hair into a tail, securing with with a golden band. Sleipnir turned and found himself staring at his grandmother.

"Sleipnir." She said softly and cupped his cheeks. Sleipnir cried silently into her hands.

"I don't know where to go." Sleipnir confessed. Frigga smoothed his cheeks dry and continued to hold his face.

"Your brothers are on Midgard. I can send you to Fenrir."

Sleipnir looked at Frigga with cautious surprise. "Can you do that?"

Frigga nodded and took Sleipnir by the hand, leading him to her room. She drew aside an enormous tapestry, and Sleipnir found himself gazing into a black hole.

"Will I live?" he asked his grandmother. She placed a hand on his back.

"Think of Fenrir." She said and shoved him though the hole.

 

 

*********

 

 

When Sleipnir opened his eyes, he was lying on grass, staring up into a beautiful blue sky. He groaned as he sat up and, when he was stretching out his neck, saw a beautiful stone house sitting in a field. He stood up, gathered his bag and made his way to it. When he rapped on the door, a man with black hair and golden eyes answered it.

"Fenrir?" Sleipnir asked tentatively. Fenrir gasped wetly and pulled Sleipnir into an embrace.

"Brother mine, you're home now." Fenrir whispered. Sleipnir grinned and hugged him back.

He was finally with his family.

 

 

*********

 

 

When the Chitauri invaded, Sleipnir was still living with Fenrir and Liesle, making his living as an artist and part time horse for a local riding school.

(He used his seldom used magic to conceal his extra limbs. The school was under the impression that the horse was owned by Leisle, who was perfectly happy to let this illusion continue, provided that she never got on a horse in her long, long, life.)

They tried desperately to get to New York, but were unable to make it even with Jormungandr's help.

So they waited. And when their sister came to them and told her siblings and her sister-in-law that their mother was expecting a new, living sibling, you couldn't stop them getting to their mother.

And so Sleipnir stood before his mother in his human form for the first time, he felt as free as he did when he was a foal, with his mother the young man and a gentle giant known as his father.

He had never been this happy before.


	2. Jormungandr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the story of Jormungandr, the second born of Loki, and the eldest of Loki's children from Angrboda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was easily the most difficult character to pin down, mainly because I don't know anyone at all who is like how I imagined Jormungandr. All of the other characters have character similarities to people I know, so Jormungandr I had to completely make up. Thus, he was the most tricky character to write.
> 
> She is played excellently by Jaimie Alexander, but I simply don't like the character of Sif.
> 
> Euthanasia is a sticky subject, one that I touch upon briefly in this chapter. This does not represent my personal beliefs, which are private and have no place in a fictional story. Rather, they are the views expressed by the characters. Any flames about this will not be welcomed.

When Loki became an adult, he received from his parents gists, to mark his transition from youth to manhood. 

Thor before him had received the great hammer Mjolnir, and his red cloak (which he gave to Sleipnir when fleeing, and had to ask his mother to weave him a new one.) He was ecstatic with his gifts, and the party that was held in his honour. But his brother was self aware enough by this point to realise that a party would not be held in his honour, as he was only the second brother, and not nearly as well liked at Thor.

So, on the morning of his birthday, the day he was now considered an adult, he lay in his bed for a couple of hours extra than he normally would of, his own gift to himself. He knew that Thor was aching to disturb him, and so the night before he had threatened Thor on pain of death if he burst into him room.

When Loki got up, he wrapped himself in his robe and opened the door to find Thor sitting by it. He was sleeping, and so Loki nudged him awake with his foot.

"Happy birthday Loki." Thor murmured sleepily as he stood up. He stretched, and Loki ignored the clenching in his stomach as he gazed at his brother.

(Loki knew he was in love with Thor. It drove him mad that he couldn't do anything about it.)

"Thank you." Loki said and invited Thor in, where his breakfast was already laid out by thoughtful servants. His favourites were sitting there, no meat, mostly fruit and fried fish. But there was cooked meat in front of the other seat, as if the cooks knew that Thor would spend the morning with his brother rather than breakfast in the Great Hall. 

It was nice to have Thor to himself for once. It made Loki think of their childhood, and of how they had slowly separated over the years.

Thor was telling Loki a story about what had happened to him in training (Loki was laughing softly), when the door opened softly and in walked Frigga, carrying two items wrapped in brown paper.

"Mother." Loki stood up and kissed her on the cheek. She put the presents on the table and held him in her arms. Her young man was now so much taller than she was, and Frigga's heart was heavy as she thought about how her children were at last grown up.

"Many happy returns my son." She said. Loki gave her a now rare true smile and stepped back, pulling the robe closer to his body. Frigga reached around and gave Loki his presents. Loki grinned and sat back, pulling one present into his lap and opening it like he was a child.

A book sat in his lap, a heavy tome on magic that he had been eyeing in Odin library since he was a boy. He smiled wide at his mother, and opened the book to the first page. 

' _Loki,_

_You are a boy no longer, and as such, this now belongs to you. Many happy returns._

_Odin and Frigga'_

Loki smiled at the inscription and started reading, inadvertently shutting out his mother and brother, who laughed at the recognisable habit and left him to it. 

Hours later, Loki emerged somewhat sheepishly from his room, clutching his other present. He made his way to his mothers room and nocked on the door, walking in when his mother told him to.

"I'm glad to see you came alone." His mother said, smiling from her loom. 

"Your note told me to." Loki said. He spread out the package his second present was contained in and looked at his mother again, tilting his head in question.

Frigga snorted and stood up, walking towards Loki. "You can get that quizzical look off of your face. I already know that you've taken a peek."

Loki dropped his expression and looked at her in slight confusion. "Have you made me a costume?" he asked. "All I could see was feathers."

Frigga shook her head and opened the package. Inside was a beautiful cloak of black raven feathers. The collar was bristling with them, and a brass hook and eye completed the ensemble.

"I know you envy Thor, with Mjolnir."

Loki shook his head, but Frigga gripped him by the chin and looked into his eyes. "Don't lie to me, my boy. I am your mother."

"This," she picked the cloak up and shook it out. It would easily cover Loki to his ankles. "Is a cloak of your fathers Ravens. I have been weaving it for years." Loki turned around and allowed Frigga to put it on. It was heavy, but the weight felt comfortable around Loki's shoulders and neck. He turned around and Frigga smiled at him.

"Raise your arms." She said. Loki looked confused but raised them. He gaped.

The cloak had moulded itself to his arms, turning them into giant wings. He raced to Frigga's mirror and saw that the wings were easily the length of his body either side. He felt weightless, as if his bones had hollowed out. He turned back to Frigga.

"Mother, I..." he tried. Fridga out a hand on his back and led him to the window.

"Go. You can do it." She whispered in his ear. Loki jumped up onto the balcony and then stepped out into air.

His heart plummeted, and for a second he was convinced that he was going to hit he ground. But he spread out his arms, and the wind caught, and suddenly,  _he was flying!_

He whooped, twisting and turning in the air. He flew farther and faster than he had ever travelled on horseback. He flew so far, in fact, that he inadvertently breached a secluded wormhole within the Adgardian sky, and travelled straight to Jotunheim. He was so caught up in the euphoria, the first (and last) indication something was wrong was when he flew headfirst into a tree. 

He crumpled to the ground, and knew no more.

 

 

**********

 

 

He came too when someone leaned over him to wipe his face, and he surged back against the pillows. 

"Calm down." Said a deep voice. Loki squinted against the light and felt around him. He was lying on a soft bed, and from what he could see through narrow and blurry eyes, he was in a log house, and there was a howling gail outside. The blurry figure above him leaned over again, and Loki shrank back. But the figure merely pulled him upright, and settled him back again pillows. Loki liked hard and tried to get the figure into view.

"What..." he tried to get out and found his mouth dry. The figure saw this and brought a cup of water to his lips, wetting them and soothing his aching throat. Loki swallowed and tried again. "What happened?"

"You flew into a tree, Little Bird." The figure snorted and stood back. Now Loki could see better, he was a tall figure, bigger than Thor, somewhere around the 7 foot mark. He was pale skinned, with wide gold eyes and pitch black hair, that he had shaved the sides but kept the hair long in top. He had a kind face, and was grinning at Loki in his misfortune.

"I did what?" Loki asked again.

"You flew straight into a tree. I'd have thought people of the air would have thought to avoid such things, but maybe you simply thought your exceptionally hard skull would allow you to plough straight through it. Either way, congratulations on making a dent." The man stood up and walked to the fire, where a cauldron hanging from it gave off an enticing smell of stew.

"It was my first time." Loki mumbled, clutching his head where a rough bandage had been tied across it.

"What? Trying to actually go through a tree rather than around it?" The man said with laughter in his voice. Loki glared at him.

"Flying."

"Come again?"

"It was my first time flying. Ever." 

The man raised his eyebrows and came over with two bowls of stew. "Then I must congratulate you again for making your first flight a memorable one." He held out a bowl and a spoon to Loki, who took them tentatively. He ate a small bite of stew, then his eyes widened and he practically started inhaling the food. The man sat on the edge of the bed and ate more slowly, filling up Loki's bowl when he asked for more.

"Now that you have eaten and slept, and you appear to be in better health, I must ask you your name." The man said. Loki wiped his mouth and sat back.

"I am Loki Odinson of Asgard."

The man froze. Loki narrowed his eyes.

"Why do you react like that?" Loki asked. The man didn't meet his eyes and shifted away, but Loki caught his arm and held him still. "Where am I?"

"You truly do not know?" the man asked. Loki shook his head slowly.

"You are in Jotunheim."

Loki gaped at him, and released his arm in shock. The man stood up and stepped away, but kept his eyes on Loki. "I take it from your reaction that you had no idea where you were." Loki shook his head.

"Are you a Jotun?" Loki asked softly.

The man made a split second decision and shook his head, keeping his glamour up. He didn't want to frighten the little bird. "No. Just a poor sorcerer who has made his home in the Iron Wood. My name is Angrboda." He bowed to Loki, who smiled softly.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Loki said. "I must say, it is nice to be able to meet a fellow magic user."

Angrboda came over and sat on the edge of the bed. He smiled at Loki, feeling something curl in his chest as he looked at him. "Tales of your magic have reached even me. It would be churlish of me not to offer some aid to one such as yourself, even if it was your fault that you incapacitated yourself."

Loki laughed. He liked Angrboda already, who was pleasantly forthright and forward with what he said. It was a relief to have someone call a spade a spade, after years of having people toady up to him simply because he was the second prince.

"Can you demonstrate some of your magic for me?" Loki asked. Angrboda closed his right hand into a fist, and then opened it slowly to reveal a dulcetly carved figure made of ice sitting in his palm. 

"Oh." Loki said softly, leaning close and examining it. It was him. He smiled softly at Angrboda, who returned it.

'I am so fucked.' Thought Loki as he looked at Angrbodas handsome features.

Indeed. He truly was royally screwed.

 

 

***********

 

 

(Loki would only find out years later that Angrboda had frozen at him name, not because he was of Asgard, but because he had been the midwife who had delivered the baby Loki from Farbauti, only hours before the temple was plundered by Asgard and Farbauti slain by Odin. 

Laufey in his grief had banished Angrboda to the Iron Wood, blaming him for the death of his mate and newborn child. 

Angrboda had known that the baby, called Loptr by Farbauti had been taken by Odin.

And as Loki lay beside him many weeks later, flushed with sex and moaning, he wondered whether this was punishment or a reward for keeping his mouth shut for so many years.)

 

 

************

 

 

Loki returned to Asgard many weeks later, his cloak of feathers guiding hi to his rooms. The first thing he did when he got to them was strip off in front of a mirror and examine the bump currently resting in his pelvis. Unlike his pregnancy with Sleipnir, his belly was hard as a rock, and he estimated his still had months to go before he gave birth.

"I had to leave." He murmured to his baby, stroking the skin softly. "You would have died otherwise."

His body had been screaming for weeks for him to leave, and it had only been Angrboda shoving him out of the door that had convinced Loki he should go back home.

He stood in front of the mirror for a few more minutes before sharp rapping startled him. He grabbed a robe and put it on, tying it tightly before he opened the door to find his brother standing there.

"Thor." Loki said, smiling. 

Thor wasn't looking at his face. Loki frowned and was about to reprimand him before he saw that Thor's eyes were drawn to his belly, and the thrill of fear shot down his spine. He had forgotten about Thor's secondary power, and how as a child he had known about any pregnancy in the castle, often before the women knew themselves.

"Get in here." Loki grabbed Thor by his tunic and pulled him into the room, slamming the door shut. He whirled around and opened his mouth to cuss Thor out, except he found himself speechless when Thor stepped close and put his hands on the bump. Loki's throat closed as he felt Thor's hand warm his skin, felt that special magic curl around his little baby.

"Loki, you have a baby in you." Thor murmured. Loki would have replied with sarcasm, except he couldn't speak at the moment. His baby had never felt so safe within him, not even when he had been with Angrboda.

"I have a baby." Loki whispered back. He placed his hands on top of Thors and held them there. Loki knew that the more of Thor's magic ran through to his baby, the safer it would be. And he would do anything to ensure the safety of his child.

They stood there for a long time, long enough that when Thor took his hands away, he rested his head on Loki's shoulder, magically exhausted. Loki guided Thor to his table and sat him down, pausing long enough to him to change into a tunic and trousers before coming back to Thor, holding out a restore draught that Thor took gratefully and swallowed immediately. He perked up and grinned at Loki.

"That's a fine son you have in there." He said to Loki, who smiled back and sat down, one hand always on the bump.

"Indeed he is." Loki agreed. Thor continued to smile at him until a thought crossed his mind and he suddenly frowned.

"What are you going to do about the pregnancy?" he asked. Loki didn't reply. "The bump isn't going to get bigger, but even when you dress like that you can see it. And no offence Loki, but it defiantly doesn't look like you gained weight."

"I have thought about this." Loki ran a frustrated hand through his hair and settled back in his seat, idly summoning a glass of water with a flick of his hand. He sipped slowly as both he and Thor thought.

"Have you thought about actually announcing your pregnancy and dealing with the consequences?" Thor said. Loki shook his head.

"The baby is going to be mine when is comes, I would rather not deal with being an exhibit and having fingers pointed at me all the way up until that point."

Thor nodded but bit his lip. He knew where Loki's mind was going. "You will exhaust yourself if you keep up that glamour for the 6 months remaining."

Loki nodded and for the first time showed worry about it. "I cannot appear in public for too long."

"Indeed." Thor said and leaned back, thinking. "You need to appeal to Father, get him to scale back your public appearances."

"No!" Loki exclaimed, leaning forward and hissing. "You saw what he did with Sleipnir, he will not do that to my baby."

"You have to trust myself and Mother." Thor leaned forward and grasped Loki's hand, idly playing with his fingers. "If you come with myself and mother, Father will not touch you or the baby."

 

 

**********

 

 

Odin would have protested to Loki scaling back his public duties just on behalf of a baby (and don't get him started on  _that_ ) except that he endured glares from his wife and heir the like of which he had never received before.

Loki endured the rest of his pregnancy in peace, the only upset being when Sif, completely drunk, had poked him hard in the stomach with the hilt of her dagger and Loki, in a temper the likes of which Thor had not seen since he was a child, stood up and cursed Sif's long blond hair to fall out. The resulting shrieks echoed throughout the palace and when Sif's hair did grow back, it was no longer god but black as coal.

Loki confined himself to his rooms thereafter, allowing only his mother and Thor to see him.

The night of the birth, Loki slept the first full nights sleep he had for a while. Thor sat by the door, working his natural magic for all he could, whilst Frigga and Odin held each other and stared out at the growing storm. In the morning, Loki woke to a flat stomach and eggshells at the end of his bed.

Curled up beside the pillow by his head was a small, emerald green snake, which was sleeping. His tongue flickered out with each breath, and every so often he would shift and sink deeper into the pillow.

Loki blinked back tears in his eyes and reached out a hand, gently running one finger down the snake's back. The snake shifted and then yawned, showing Loki that he already had a set of fangs, and each was long and sharp. The snake finished yawning and looked at Loki, appearing to be sizing him up. Loki continued to hold his eye before the snake suddenly seemed to smile.

"Mama." He said and slithered forward, wrapping himself around Loki's neck and rubbing his head against his cheek. Loki closed his eyes and allowed himself to cry silently, received that his son was safe. He gently cupped his son in his hands and examined as much of his as he could.

His son was a deep emerald green, without a change when it came to his belly. Behind his head where fins of translucent turquoise, delicately membraned and fluttering slightly every time his son breathed. His eyes were deep gold ('Angrboda's eyes' Loki thought with a pang) and slitted, and his son was licking the tears from his cheek with his tongue. 

"Mama." His son said again and he breathed in. 

"Jormungandr." He said. Jormungandr swayed his head as he appeared to be thinking, then he gave another snaky smile and nuzzled his mother again.

A rap at the door, and then Thor opened it and looked at Loki in bed. He smiled softly as he saw Jormungandr and came in, closing the door behind himself as he walked to the bed. Jormungandr watched him, and when Thor sat in the edge of the bed, he reached across the gap and started to wind himself around Thor's neck, flicking out his tongue and licking Thor. Thor tried manfully to suppress his giggles, but he was not entirely successful.

"Curious wee beastie." He said, his hands cuddling his nephew, who delighted in slithering between his large fingers. Every so often he would turn his head to look at his mama, who would smile indulgently and let him carry on.

"I was not expecting a snake." Loki confessed quietly.

"I don't think anyone was expecting a snake." Thor said. He scratched Jormungandr under the chin, and the hatchling hissed in delight. "But I knew you were having an egg."

Loki frowned at this. "You couldn't have told me? I was worried something was wrong with the baby when my belly turned hard as stone. Although," he mused as he watched his son now slither his way into Thor's hair, "I suppose that's why I needed to leave where I was. It was too cold for him to thrive."

"Where were you? I never knew, and Mother was being very quiet about it." Thor asked. Jormungandr had settled in his hair, and was once again sleeping, his head resting on top of Thor's. Thor absent-mindedly stoked his scales, causing his nephew to giggle every so often in his sleep. Loki blinked back the tears in his eyes as he saw his brothers easy acceptance of his children (he knew that Thor often spent evenings on his own in the palace stables, reading to Sleipnir).

"I was away." Loki said, sitting up and wrapping his nightgown around himself. He pushed back the covers and carefully pulled out the eggshells, cradling them in his hands. He would later put them painstakingly back together and set it above his fire. 

"Will you ever tell me?" Thor asked. Loki avoided his gaze and shook his head.

"No. I cannot. You have to trust me on this." 

Thor looked at him with wounded eyes and gently untangled Jormungandr from his hair. The snake hissed and went back to his mother. Loki gently cradled him as he watched Thor leave the room, ignoring the way his heart sank and how much he wanted to tell Thor exactly where he had been and what had happened. But he remembered Thor's declaration from when he was a child standing in front of the Casket of Ancient Winters.

He couldn't risk Angrboda, no matter what.

"Mama!" He was jerked out of his thoughts by the plaintive sound of his son calling from his hands. He looked down and saw his son swaying at him, mouth turned down in a frown. He was about to ask what was the matter when he heard a rumble coming from his son's stomach. He realised that his son had not fed since he had been born, and stood up and carried him to the table. He gently heated up a goblet of water before stirring sugar into it, allowing it to dissolve before setting it down in front of his son, who slithered out of his hands and dipped his mouth into it, sipping the sweet liquid and humming with pleasure. Loki ate fruit and kept an eye on his newborn son, feeling something in his chest he had not felt since he had birth his first son.

He felt the all consuming love for a newborn child. He could not wait to tell Sleipnir he was a big brother.

 

 

**********

 

 

Jormungandr grew at an extraordinary rate. Within a year of his birth, he had grown to 6 feet long. But he continued to remain slim, which worried Loki until Frigga pointed out that he was not going to be a constrictor, and instead said he was going to be long and slender.

("Like his mother." She muttered to Thor, who snorted with laughter.)

Loki took to appearing at Court with his son draped around his neck like a scarf. The Courts reaction to Jormungandr had been a mixture of fascination and disgust, with Loki's own reputation sinking further and further into the mud. Loki tried desperately not to show how much the was affecting him, but every so often he would send Jormungandr to spend the evening with his brother or uncle, so that he could spend the evening alone.

It wasn't just Loki who took to wearing Jormungandr like a scarf. Each of his children would have a very close relationship with their uncle (due to Thor's simple expectance of them) so Thor would often wander around Asgard, Jormundandr draped around his neck. The citizens were enchanted by the snake, whose good manners and sly observations ensured that for the first time, it was not only Loki who kept up with gossip.

The Warriors Three and Sif had not taken to Sleipnir when he came to be at Asgard, and even less so when Jormungandr grew bigger and became more mature. His understanding of people came more and more from his observations of people and from listening to them talk when they thought no one was listening.

He learnt about how much people hated his mother.

He learns how many people underestimated Thor's intelligence.

He saw how Frigga despaired at her children, about how their public and private perceptions were so wrong.

He saw how Odin watched his children, watched his sons and he judged.

Jormungandr spent a lot to time with his brother, slung comfortably along the rafters above his stable as they chatted about everything and nothing. Every so often, Sleipnir would look up and a boy was sitting in the rafters, his scaled skin gleaming in the firelight and his green hair slicked back. The first time he saw this, Sleipnir responded by asking "Does Mama know this form?"

Jormungandr looked down at his brother, golden eyes narrowed from beneath lowered lids. "Yes." He said finally. "But I loathe it."

Sleipnir shook himself and frowned at Jormungandr. "Why?'

Jormunagandr jumped down from the rafters and went to his brother, leaning again his back as Sleipnir lay down. Sleipnir put his appearance as that of an 9 year old boy. "I don't have the freedom I have in my natural form. I am far too conspicuous."

"You have hands." Sleipnir said, leaning his head against his brothers legs. His scales was naturally cold, and every so often his hairs would catch in between scales, causing pleasant friction.

Jormungandr grimaced. "I don't care if I have hands. I'm slender enough naturally that I have yet to find a door I cannot get through."

"I hope that it is only Mama who knows this form of yours, and not Odin."

Jormungandr shrugged. "Mama and Thor, and possibly Frigga."

They lay there in silence, until Sleipnir said "You can change back, you know. I would hate for you to be in discomfort." Sleipnir said, and didn't move as he felt Jormungandr shift back. Jormungandr slithered onto Sleipnirs back, and lay there, soaking in the body heat.

Sleipnir was startled from his dozing when Jormunagandr crawled up his neck and whispered in his ear "You can show me your other form, you know. Fair is fair, brother mine." Sleipnir whirled his head around, and saw that Jormungandr was giving him an in-prenetratable look. He thought about lying, but instead heaved a deep breath and changed to his human form, Jormungandr forming a scarf around his neck. 

"It is good to see you." Jormungandr said. Sleipnir laughed and stroked his scales.

"Why do you not show Mama this form?" Jormungandr asked. Sleipnir shrugged and settled back against the hay, his back getting tickled.

"I don't know. It's just never come up."

"He has seen you."

"Yes." Sleipnir nodded and grinned at his chess sessions with his mother and uncle. "But he doesn't know it's me."

"Will you ever tell him?" Jormungandr hissed. Sleipnir shook his head.

"When the time is right. Not until then." He smiled at his brother. "We all need scripts to keep."

They sat there is silence for a little while longer, before Jourmungandr stretched and Sleipnir changed back. Jormungandr made his way out of the stable, but turned and asked Sleipnir "Have you seen our new brother?"

Sleipnir shook his head. "No. Mama promised to bring him when he was strong enough. What does he look like?"

Jormungandr waved his head in delight. "Born in the form of a wolf, but changed to human form almost immediately." He smiled his slightly unnerving smile. "Black hair, green eyes, but a blunter face. Kicks like a mule, cries like a storm."

Sleipnir gave a great neigh of laughter. 

When Loki came back from the healing wing that night (Fenrir's birth had nearly torn him apart, and he was still weak, he found Jormungandr dangling over Fenrir's crib, his tail swaying as a laughing Fenrir tried to catch it.

Jormungandr continued to grow. He reached an astounding length of 50 feet when the incident that would see him banished happened and he left Asgard for good. 

He would only return when Thor brought Loki to Asgard with the rest of the Avengers to register his own child.

 

 

**********

 

 

Jormungandr was 19 years old (in human years) when he was basking in the sunlight in Frigga's private garden and caught the tail end of a conversation.

"...I do not want to." It was a female voice.

"Of course you do." Male, this time. It sounded unbearingly smug. "Shaking your ass at me when you bend over, tempting me. You want to."

"I have not been tempting you." There was a rustle as the women moved away. However, there was a sharp groan as the male seemingly grabbed her arm. "I have a fiancé, I'm going to get married. I have not been tempting you."

"You have, don't bother to deny it." The man sounded breathy, and Jormungandr felt a surge of disgust within him when he realised that the man was nearly panting with lust. Jormungandr himself had absolutely no interest in sex, and so found it mortifying to know that someone close to him was so close to losing control they could barley breathe because of it.

"I will deny it, and if you don't let go of my arm, I'm going to stab you." The woman sounded wonderfully fierce, and Jormungandr found himself cheering her on. But there was a sharp slap, and the dagger in question sailed over the bushes and landed by Jormungandr. He frowned and slithered his way into the bushes. 

"Let go of me!" The woman was hissing. Jormungandr could hear the panic in her voice, and there was a thump as something heavy landed in the ground. Jormungandr slithered faster. "You let go of me, now."

"Shut up wench." The man panted. There was the sound of rustling cloth, and the woman was now letting out little panicked cries. But she was still struggling, and as Jourmungandr got through the undergrowth, he saw she was frantically trying to pull herself away from the man. But the man had managed to hike up her skirts, exposing her to him and was in the process of pulling down his own trousers. The women turned her head and saw Jormungandr watching, and with tears in her eyes she mouthed 'Help me.'

Hissing with rage, Jormungandr launched himself from the bush, easily coiling around the man and pulling him from the women. He squeezed, flexing his muscles, and the man wheezed and stopped struggling. The women pushed down her clothes and sat up, unwanted tears rolling down her face. But she did not turn away, for she was made of sturdy stuff.

"That was a crime." Jormungandr hissed. His tongue touched the man's ear and the man whimpered, soiling himself. Jormungandr grimaced in disgust, but did not loosen his grip.

"She...was...asking for...it!" The man gasped.

"No she wasn't." Jormungandr considered for a moment, then looked at the woman. She nodded her head.

"You sentence had been passed." Jormungandr said grimly.

"What?" The man said, then comprehended what he had been told and started to struggle. "No! No!" 

But it was no use. Jormungandr selected the vein bulging out of the man's neck, and then gently and with infinite finesse, slid his fangs into it and released enough poison to take down a bilgesnipe. The man wailed, struggled for all of 10 seconds, and then gurgled as his insides dissolved. It was a very unique poison Jormungandr possessed, one the acted fast and almost painlessly. 

Unless Jormungandr wanted the person to be in pain. And then the person suffered for as long as Jormungandr desired. The man in his coils would have suffered more, but Jormungandr had been raised to be a gentleman, and the woman in front of him was starting to go green. Jormungandr released the man and went over to the woman, not even looking back.

"Can I escort you anywhere, Ma'am?" he asked and rose to meet her eyes. She looked at him and stood up, where he matched her. He hiked up some could to give him a makeshift arm, and she took it gratefully. They made their way out of the garden, the woman stumbling in shock every so often, but Jormungandr steading her, and escorted her to the palace entrance, where she finally collapsed in shock. Jormungandr leaned down and looked at her as she finally started to cry.

"Can I get anyone for you?" he asked. The woman nodded her head but was unable to speak. Feeling helpless Jormungandr stayed with her, gently coiling around her so that she could lean back and cry without restraint.

They sat there for about 10 minutes before Frigga came out to the sound of crying. She hurried over to them. "Sigyn, Sign, what's the matter?"

But the maid, now Sigyn, could not reply. Jormungandr instead told Frigga the whole story, at least as much as he knew. Sign managed to get herself under control and filled in the rest, where upon Frigga wrapped him in her cloak and guided her to the hospital wing.

But the glance she threw over her shoulder at her grandson was not one of thanks, but rather one of worry. Jormungandr slithered to his mothers rooms, where he found Fenrir (10) and Hela (16 months) playing on the carpet in front of the fire. Loki was sitting with them, reading.

"Jorry!" Fenrir exclaimed and hurried over to hug his brother. But for once, Jormungandr did not hug him back. Instead, he was let go sharply and he mad his way to his mother. Hela, in that unnerving way of hers, had already gone silent and watchful and was now toddling over to the balcony, where it offered the best views of Frigga's garden.

Loki looked at his son, and his heart immediately started to sink. "What have you done?" he whispered, one hand coming up to cup Jormungandr's jaw.

"Jorry killed someone." Hela said solemnly. She was standing at the balcony, watching as men and women exclaimed in horror at the body. Fenrir was holding her hand, looking distraught at his mother and brother. Loki gasped wetly, and Jormungandr changed shape. There was now a young man where a giant snake had been, and his eyes narrowed and released tears.

He needed to cry, because he knew that with that one action, he was about to lose the only home he had ever had. Loki pulled his grown son into his arms, and Fenrir brought his sister over. They held each other as they cried.

This would be the last time for a very long time that they would all be together.

 

 

**********

 

 

Fenrir, in later years, would call the 'trial' that Jormungandr had a complete whitewash. There was only one witness, the maid Sigyn, who spoke valiantly but in vain in Jormungandr's defence. Loki stood by the throne, his children by his side, and watched with loathing in his face as his second son, in bipedal form, was torn to shreds by the court. They criticised his looks, his hair, his scaly skin, his eyes. They criticised the fact that he knew secrets (of course he did. He was Loki's son). They criticised his slightly odd sense of humour. They criticised his mother, his siblings, and when Jormungandr sprung to their defence, hissing and looking slightly maniacal, they criticised his defence.

Odin, under immense pressure from the Court, reluctantly banished his grandson to Midgard for the rest of his natural life. When he heard this, Loki closed his eyes in relief. 

He had thought that he would lose a son to the chopping block. This was much better.

But as he stood by the transporter, Heimdall at the ready, his family gathered in his arms (Fenrir and Hela were both crying loudly, Sleipnir was resting on his shoulder) he had to dig his class into his arm to prevent tears from escaping from his eyes. His arms, full of his children, ache to run to his son, standing looking at the vortex with a blank expression, and hold him in his arms and  _never let him go_.

But he cannot, for to go against Odin means death. And he has children that still need him.

"Jormungandr Lokijarsson, you are hereby banished to the realm of Midgard, to spend your days until you die." Odin intones. Fridge stands by his side, and Jormungandr looks at her. She gives him a tiny smile and nods her head. She'll know he will be alright. Indeed, he will thrive.

But no one knows that yet, and so she has to watch her son and his children try and stay poised at one of their own is cast away.

"Do you have anything to say before you go?" Odin asked.

Jormungandr shifted on his feet and looks at Odin fro under his eyes. When he meets Odin's gaze, he suddenly starts expanding. His clothes became rags as he grew and grew. The Court erupt into gasps and whispers as Jormungandr became his preferred form. When he was finally at his proper size, he slithered up to Odin and raised himself so that he towered over the king.

He is not even raising a quarter of his body length off of the ground, and yet he casts Odin in shadow. Odin gulped minutely and stares at raw power.

Satisfied that he has made the proper impression, Jormungandr lowered himself so that he was face to face with Odin.

"Nothing, little man." He whispered. His fangs gleamed with poison. "Nothing at all."

With a final glance over his back towards his family, Jormungandr threw himself through the portal, quitting Asgard once and for all.

 

 

********

 

 

Jormungandr had never travelled through the Bisfrost, and vowed never to do so again, as it was a nauseating experience. His landing onto Midgard was made all the more difficult by his landing in the sea, right in the middle of a migrating pod of whales, who proceeded to batter him with their tales until he swam away from their young.

He had finally found his home, he decided there and then. The sea was a pleasant temperature, his flattened tail now made sense, as did the fins either side of his head and the gills they had hidden for so many years. There was plenty to eat, and many places he could spend his years.

'All in all' he thought as he swam down to the depths, 'this could have been a lot worse.'

Jormungandr had landed in Midgard during a period that was collectively known as the Viking Era. It was perhaps appropriate that he should land in the Era where he was actually believed in, as, during one of his rare forays onto land, he happened to be listening to stories about himself and his mother, and he nearly chocked with laughter about what he heard. He then proceeded to have great fun spinning as many yarns as he could about Asgard, all the while concealing his own identity until he could get back to the water so he could giggle in peace.

During this time there was a lot of exploration happening, and Jormungandr frequently found himself trailing after ships as they sailed from land to land. He became a protector of them, but upon getting sighted would be proclaimed a monster from the deep, a moniker he never managed to shake off. 

(When Fenrir arrived in Midgard, he would laugh himself silly when he saw ancient maps of the world with Jormungandr carefully drawn in where the text proclaimed 'Here Be Monsters'.)

It was during one of these excursions that Jormungandr got a bit lost, and wandered into a large freshwater lake in an island just off the mainland. When he popped his head out of the water to look for directions, a farmer who was grazing his cattle pointed and proclaimed him 'a monster from the loch'. Jormungandr frowned but dove down to the bottom to feast on the sturgeon. He then visited the loch every year and spent his summers there, at first because the loch was a nice place to spend the season, and then because he felt a thrill giving tourists something to hunt. Even the skeptics got a view every now and again.

It was many Midgardian years later when he was swimming lazily around the islands off Australia when he felt his blood sing. He immediately turned tail and swam for Scandinavia, popping up off of the coast of Norway. He was astonished to see Fenrir, now a young man, with Sleipnir beside him. He hauled himself out of the water and changed.

"Fenrir! Sleipnir!" He exclaimed, coming over and hugging the both. He hadn't realised how much he missed them until he saw them. "What are you doing here?"

Sleipnir put a hand on Fenrir's shoulder, who didn't move. In fact, he wasn't eve looking at Jormungandr. Instead, he was staring at the ground, shaking and white. "Fenrir has been driven out." Sleipnir said grimly. He was dressed in rough clothes, without boots, and even now Jormungandr could see how oddities, his extra digits on both of his hands and both of his feet that marked him out. Fenrir was clutching a bag of belongings, but it was a small bag.

Jormungandr's heart sank as he heard this. "Explain." He asked Sleipnir, as Fenrir was clearly not going to do so himself.

"Do you have a place we can go to?" Sleipnir asked. He pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped his around Fenrirs shaking shoulders. Fenrir turned and moaned, burying his head into Sleipnir's chest whilst Sleipnir pulled his brother close. He looked at Jormungandr over Fenrir's head in slight desperation.

"I have a house. It's close but I need to take you by water." He moves back to the water and changes, letting Sleipnir and Fenrir sit on his back as he swims quickly to where his house is situated. He built is years ago, and pays a local family to maintain it. It was a lake beside it, and that is how Jormungandr accesses it. He changes, grabs clothing which he has hidden for when he needs it, and opened the door. A fire was burning away merrily, and the farmer and his wife were at the table.

"Jormungandr!" The man greets. He comes over and shakes Jormungandr's hand whilst the wife kisses his cheeks. "I was not expecting you back for some years."

"Change of plans." Jormungandr says. He lets his brothers in and shuts the door. "My brothers have come to visit and I need a place they can be safe."

"Indeed." The man casts a critical eye over Sleipnir and Fenrir, then steps back and lets Jormungandr come further in to the house. "Well all the rooms have been aired out, and Jord can easily prepare supper for more." He looks at his wife, who nods and goes back to the kitchen. Jormungandr thanks him and leads Sleipnir and Fenrir to their rooms.

"They know who you are?" Sleipnir asked under his breath. Jormungandr nodded and opened the door to the spare room. 

"Yes." He said, leading his brothers in. Fenrir walked over to the bed and collapsed onto it, pulling off his boots and burying himself into a pillow. Jormungandr frowns at this and turns back to Sleipnir, who mouths 'Later.'

"I built this house many years ago, and when it came time for me to go back to the ocean, I offered a local family run of it until I had need of it again. In return they have my eternal protection, wealth and a place to stay. It's a fair enough bargain."

Sleipnir nods and then goes to Fenrir. He sits down beside the boy and leans in, whispering into his hair. Jormungandr joins him on the other side.

"Fenrir, you are now safe." He said. He felt his brother shudder and curl deeper into the pillow. He turned desperate eyes to Sleipnir, who pursed his lips and then gestured to go downstairs. Jormungadr changed and slithered out of the room, Sleipnir shutting the door behind them. They made their way to the kitchen, where the farmer and his wife had departed, leaving behind a cauldron of stew, which Sleipnir served himself and then Jormungandr from.

"What happened?" Jormungandr asked. Sleipnir stirred his stew around his bowl, but could not eat. 

"Slip?" Jormungandr said softly, using Sleipnirs rarely used nickname. Sleipnir threw down his spoon and put his head in his hands. He sniffed once and then drew his head back, staring at the ceiling.

"Tyr tried to kill Fenrir last night." 

Jormungandr gaped at him. "He did what?" he gasped. Sleipnir looked at him with despairing eyes.

"Tyr came to mothers rooms and tried to kill Fenrir. Apparently he got it into his head that Fenrir was planning to kill Odin in wolf form, and he wanted to stop it. Luckily Thor was able to get to Fenrir and Mama first, and he and Mama charged me with getting Fenrir to Midgard safely." He blew out a breath. "Mama told me to find you, that you would help us."

Jormungandr nodded. "I shall." He resumed eating, and then asked "Will you be staying?"

Sleipnir shook his head. "No, I must get back. Mama needs to know that Fenrir is safe with you."

Jormungandr felt a small swell of sadness. "I had hoped you could stay some more."

Sleipnir smiled back sadly. "I know, I know. I don't know when I will get to see you again, but it will happen."

"You say that like you know something." Jormungandr said shrewdly. Sleipnir merely gave him a small smile and set his bowl in the sink. He went upstairs to say goodbye to Fenrir, and then came back down. He drew his arm around Jormungandr and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you, and I shall tell Mama you are safe and well." He whispered in his ear. Jormungandr choked down tears and hugged Sleipnir back just as tightly.

"See you soon." He whispered back. He saw Sleipnir to the door, but could not bear to see him leave. Instead, he closed the door and went back into his natural form, slithering up the stairs and into Fenrir's room, where the boy was sleeping without proper rest. Jormungandr coiled around him, as he had done when they were children together, and rested his chin on Fenrir's shoulder. The boy twitched and whimpered, hand coiling into fists.

"Shh." Jormungandr soothed. "Shh, little brother. You are safe now, and I will always protect you."

 

 

*********

 

 

Fenrir stayed with Jormungandr for years. It took him practically no time at all to get used to Midgard, and as he transitioned from teenager to a young man, he travelled further and further away from Jormungandr's home. 

When he became of age, Jormungandr gifted him with a parcel of land in the country that would become Germany, down in Bavaria. Jormungandr was not poor by any means, as he had a controlling interest in the fishing trade of Norway and frequently used his faming family to act a emissaries for him. So he could afford to set up his brother in comfort, in the land that Fenrir liked the best.

Alone again, he abandoned his home for another few years, taking pleasure in swimming the seas. However, an incident in 1912 brought his sharply back to land, when he felt the thrill of his singing blood and came to New York to find a women standing on the port on the dead of night. For a moment, he felt terrified, for there was a corpse standing where the woman was. But the moon was covered by clouds for an instant, and she turned into a beautiful dark eyed woman, with pin straight black hair and skin paler than milk. And then Jormungandr remembered where he had last seen a skill like that, and his heart filled to love. 

He had not seen his sister since she was a baby, and he was about to be banished.

"Hela." He whispered and transformed, climbing out of the sea and standing before his sister. Her expression was one of carefully concealed fury, but that changed when he came closer. Her face fell, and tears filled her eyes.

"Jormungandr!" she gasped and ran to him. He caught her and swung her around, laughing in delight.

"Oh, sister dear!" he exclaimed. "Oh, look at how you've grown!" He let her down and stood back, grasping her shoulders and looking at her. "Oh, you are so beautiful!" he whispered, stroking her hair.

"Even when I'm like this?" she whispered, her teeth clanking as she was a corpse.

"Even now." He said and kissed her forehead. They stood together, each looking at each other, when a shout brought them to their senses. Hela touched his bare shoulders and instantly he was clothed as a gentlemen, whilst she suddenly wore the dress of a lady.

"I have a place reserved for dinner." She said. She held out her arm and he took it, and together they walked into the city.

"The New Grand Hotel?" Jormungandr asked as they walked through the doors. Hela ignored him. 

"Reservation under Lokisson?" she asked the matrie'd, who immediacy hurried them over to a table and poured out an expensive bottle of wine.

"You certainly don't skimp on money, sister." Jormungandr said, sitting down and taking a sip. He closed his eyes and relished the taste. It had been a while since he had had good wine.

"I traded some jewels some time ago, and I left my wealth to accumulate with interest." She explained. In the light, she was even more beautiful.

They talked about everything they could think off, and Hela informed Jormungandr about her growing up, and how, upon turning 16, she had become Queen of Hell. Jormungandr felt his heart clench when he thought about how his sister was now royalty, and he had missed it. This conversation carried them safely through the first course, each taking the other in. However, when the fish course came, Hela leaned back and fixed Jormungandr with a hard eye.

"I have not merely come here to catch up." She said. Jormungandr sat back and looked at her. His expression was also hard.

"I guessed. By all means, continue."

"I received rather a lot of souls coming through my kingdom not a week ago." She said. Jormungandr said nothing. "All from a single event. Yet what puzzled me was the manner in which they died."

"Oh?" Jormungandr said. His face was as blank as hers.

"Indeed. For the event which they all came from, they died in a manner not expected of that."

Jormungandr said nothing.

"You now of what I speak of." Hela whispered. Jormungandr continued to maintain a stony silence.

"Don't play coy with me."

"Just tell me. Stop hedging." Jormungandr said. They sat in silence as their plates were taken away, and the meat course was put in front of them. Then Hela leaned closer and hissed "The sinking of the Titanic."

Jormungandr heaved a deep breath but did not speak. He dug into his beef and refused to meet Hela's eye.

"What is interesting about that particular event is the manner in which the people in the water died." Hela continued.

"They froze to death." Jomungandr murmured, but knew he was only making his sister angrier.

"No, they did not, Jormungandr." Hela said. She spoke with such authority that Jormungandr could quite see why she was a Queen. "They did not die from hypothermia."

"Then how did they die?"

"I think you know how."

They sat in silence as they continued to eat, neither sibling willing to speak first. Finally Hela set down her sultry harshly and hissed at Jormungadr " _They. Were. Poisoned_!"

Jormungandr felt the food turn to ash in his mouth and he too set his cutlery down. He looked everywhere but his sister.

"Would you care to explain to me why I have 1,500 souls in my care who were meant to die from the freezing ocean, but instead were mostly poisoned? A poison I know very well, I would have you know."

"I don't understand why I have to explain this to you?" Jormungandr said lowly, feeling mutinous. Hela grimaced in frustration and sat back, fixing Jormungandr with and unnervingly straight look.

"I would like to know. Those precious few bodies that were recovered all look frozen, and no one will be able to see the bite marks. But for my own piece of mind, I want to know why you chose to kill those people, rather than let nature take course."

Jormungandr refused to talk. He felt the guilt rise up in his breast, and still could not meet his sisters eye.

"Were you bored?" she asked. She sounded pleading. She only wanted an answer. "Did you feel the urge to kill? There are people aplenty whom you can satisfy that urge, but not this event. They were innocents. Did you deliberately hunt them? Why did you single that ship out? Was it for sport, did you really need to satidy that urger to-"

" _There were children in the water_!" Jormungandr finally hissed, leaning over the table into his sister's face and feeling his features shift slightly in rage. Hela sat back, momentarily astounded. Jormungandr breathed harshly and too sat back. He closed his eyes against tears and gripped the table cloth, shredding it slightly in his attempts to calm down.

Hela had been Queen for a few centuries now, and she had learned a thing or two about petitions. She sat there, and waited for her brother to tell his story.

"I was..." he swallowed and tried again. "I was following the ship. I occasionally provide safe passage for ships, and this one demanded it. But I was too late to see the iceberg, and couldn't divert the ship. So I waited in the area, so I could protect the lifeboats. But then they came down, all of them, and I realised that they had all filled, and that was when people started jumping. The ship tipped up, and then broke, and the people still jumped. Then the ship tipped again, and sank, and by Odin, Hela," he turned desperate eyes on his sister, "the people  _screaming_. They were all screaming, for help, from the cold, for God. And there was a child from first class in the water. First class, Hela! She should have been one of the first onto the boats, but she was floating in the water, crying for her mother. And I just, wanted to end her pain. So I bit her, and killed her in seconds rather than she die in minutes. And when she died, she looked so peaceful. So I went around, biting all those still alive, so that they wouldn't suffer any more. I killed 1,500 people, Hela. I killed them all, so that they wouldn't suffer. And I haven't slept since, because all I can hear when I close my eyes is them screaming." 

They sat in silence, as Jomrungandr buried his face into his napkin, and Hela stared out of the window, giving her brother his dignity. Around them, people started to leave, so that when Jormungandr finally came back up, they were the last ones in the restaurant. The waiters ignored them (an illusion cast by Hela made them invisible) and she poured out more wine for him, pushing it into his hands.

"Drink." She said. He did so and wiped his eyes.

They sat for a little while more, until Jormungandr had got himself under control. He then looked at his sister, and she started to speak.

"When they came to me, they were all confused. The Christian version of Hell is a frightening place." She laughed without humour. "I saw them in, and the children were crying. The women too and some of the men. They were all so frightened, and so I gathered them into my hall, where I told them that they were all bound to Heaven, but they would stay with me for a time, to help them acclimatise themselves to being dead. The children accepted more quickly than the adults, and they have been a joy, playing with them. But I knew that they did not die naturally, than your own poison hastened their deaths, and I admit, I was furious. I came here to confront you, to blame you. But now I understand that what you did was a mercy, and I thank you for that."

She smiled at her brother, and he smiled back, and that night, when she went back to her kingdom and he went back to the sea, his heart felt lightened for the first time in a week.

 

 

*********

 

 

Jormungandr frequently touched base with Fenrir, who quickly found hi place among the gentry of Germany. He enjoyed spending time with him, but when the Second World War came around, he suddenly found himself acting as a getaway person for numerous people his brother suddenly needed to help. He didn't question it, as he knew this all came about for good reason, but when 1944 came about, and he had not heard of his bother for several weeks, he became concerned and came to the Northern coast of Germany to find him. 

He found his brother walking down a road, covered in dust and with his clothes handing off him. He was making his way to the coast, but was slowed down by the woman he had cradled in his arms. 

"Fenrir." Jormundandr breathed and slithered over to them. The woman opened startlingly blue eye and looked at him, but was not frightened. She merely closed them again and breathed out, settling closer in Fenrir's arms.

"Jormungandr." Fenrir said. His voice was blank, but his eyes were filled with fury.

"What happened?" Jormungandr asked. Fenrir didn't answer, but looked at his brother with eyes that frightened Jormungandr.

"We need to get out of Germany." Fenrir said. He clutched the woman closer to his chest. Jormungandr looked at the both of them and turned.

"Get on. I'll take you to my new house in Sweden."

"Not Norway?" Fenrir asked as he got on and secured the woman to his chest.

"Not during this time. Sweden is safer. All those people we got there, they are safe." Jormungandr started to slither as fast as he could for the coast, effortlessly crossing the distance from Germany to Sweden and then to his house in the mountains, so that it was only midnight when he opened the door and ushered in his brother and his woman.

"Beds are upstairs, start a fire. I'll get some food ready." Jormundandr said and changed, quickly pulling on some clothes as his brother took the woman to bed. He had a simple soup going on the stove when his brother came down and slumped against the table. Without a word, Jormungandr put a bowl in front of him and settled back, waiting for his brother to start talking.

"I lost track of her." Fenrir finally said. He was sipping a large glass of cognac, sitting in front of the fire in the living room. Jormungandr as lying in his natural form in front of the fire.

"Is this the woman you were talking about?"

Fenrir nodded.

"I did not realise she was a Jew."

"It wouldn't have mattered." Fenrir murmured.

"Indeed not, but being a Jew nowadays is a perilous thing to be."

They sat in silence for a long while, until Fenrir took a deep breath. "She was meant to meet me a dew months ago. I would have secured her passage to Sweden with you, her and her family. But they were quickly found out to be Jews, and they were rounded up before I could get to them. I didn't know where they went. I spent months looking, and then I found out her father, brothers and uncles and aunts had been sent to Auschwitz. They were dead, killed the moment they got off the train." Fenrir swallowed down his rage. "Her mother and her got sent to Bergen-Belsen. They had been there for months. When I got there a few days ago, her mother had died a few weeks ago, and she was serving the troops in the brothel."

Jormungandr took all of this in. He lay there, and then turned his head to his brother. "Is the place still standing?" he asked.

Fenrir had never looked less like the boy who had arrived all those many years ago. This was a man before Jormungandr now, one who had murdered, and enjoyed it.

"I tore it to the ground."

Jormungandr let Fenrir and his woman stay at his house for the rest of the war, and some times afterwards. He went back to the sea, to sink as many German ships as possible. When he poisoned this time, it was a slow, agonising death that had the sufferers praying for a God many of them no longer believed in.

 

 

**********

 

 

And so Jormungandr spent the decades in the sea, occasionally coming up to land when the need arose. He found a fast friend in Liesle, and when Sleipnir joined the family on Midgard, spent a few weeks in bipedal for settling his brother on Midgard before he returned to the sea.

When he sensed his Mama on Midgard, he tried everything in his power to go to him. But whenever he got close, an unrelenting wave of true hatred stopped him, and he saw a vision of a Titan, the like of which he had never seen before.

When he asked, he found that Fenrir, Liesle and Sleipnir had had the same problem.

So he waited, and he hoped.

And when, one day when he was staying with his brothers and sister-in-law in Bavaria, Hela came to them and told them that Mama was back on Midgard, coupled to their beloved uncle and expecting his first living baby in centuries, no power on Earth or beyond was going to stop him from seeing his Mama and reuniting with him for the first time in a long, long time.

For Jormungandr was nothing if not infinitely patient.


	3. Fenrir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of the great wolf Fenrir, third son of Loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fenrir is based on a combination of all of my brothers. Easiest character to write, so easy!
> 
> Thor is a fertility god and also a god of healing, that I one of the reasons I had him help Loki throughout the pregnancy. It also explains his very close relationship with Fenrir.

Loki did not intentionally return to Angrboda. He had thought to quit Jotunheim all together. But when Jormungandr was 8, he felt a stirring in his gut that told him he had to return, if only to tell Angrboda that he had a son. He flew with his cloak of feathers to Angrboda's house and knocked on the door, moving his legs to keep the cold away.

He heard Angrboda come to the door and peer through the keyhole, then he heard him swear and there was silence again for a moment. Then the door opened, and there stood Angrboda. He smiled down at Loki, and Loki felt his chest lighten at the sight.

"Loki." Angrboda breathed and stood aside. Loki came in and shrugged off his cloak, letting it fall to the ground. He stepped forward into Angrboda's embrace, who picked him up and spun his around, laughing with delight.

"You have a son!" Loki crowed. Angrboda set him down and looked at him with joy.

"A son?" he whispered.

"Yes." Loki grinned at him. "A son."

"Describe him." Angrboda led Loki to his table and sat him down, putting down a drink in front of him and also sitting down.

"He's a snake." Not one to beat about the bush, Loki decides to open with the most shocking fact. But Angrboda merely grins, and gestures for him to carry on. "Most of the time, anyway. When he is like us, he is...I..." Surpispingly Loki runs out of words, and instead holds out his hands. The light flickers, and then an image of his nine year old son in bipedal form shows. His green hair glistens and his skin shimmers, and when he grins, his teeth are long and sharp.

"Oh." Angrboda says softly. He touches the image and then figure changes to Jormungandr's more common form. Now he is a vibrant green snake, with delicate fins on either side of his head, and he twists in Loki's hands.

"He's so strong." Angrboda whispered

"I wish you could see him." Loki replied equally as softly. He allowed the image of Jormungandr to slowly wink out, and he sat back resting his hands on his legs. Angrboda too sat back and looked at Loki, who was letting his short hair grow out slightly. His face was slimmer, his eyes slightly more defined, proof he was finally shedding the last vestiges of his childhood and becoming an adult.

"I missed you." He said abruptly, standing and going to the cauldron hanging above the fire. He poured out two portions of stew and offered a bowl to Loki, who took it and started eating immediately.

"As I missed you." 

They spoke about many things, and when Angrboda took Loki to bed that night, he felt nothing but joy and happiness at their shared future.

 

 

***********

 

 

When Loki became pregnant for the third time, he listened to his body. But there was no immediate urge to retreat to a warmer climate, as there had been with Jormungandr, and so he spent the first 8 months of his pregnancy with Angrboda, trusting that Jormungandr was safe with Sleipnir and Thor. he lets himself get rounder and rounder, and enjoys the attention that this gains from Angrboda for the first few months.

This changes when he feels the baby start to kick. 

"It's less like a kick and more like something is scratching at me." He told Angrboda one evening, when they were sitting by the fire. Angrboda had his hands on Loki's stomach, and even he frowned at the powerful kicks he was feeling.

"Maybe you have twins, and they are fighting each other for space?" he suggests, sitting back on his heels to look at Loki. Loki placed a hand on his stomach and closed his eyes. His hand glowed green and then he shook his head.

"It is one baby, and not a particularly large on at that."

"Can you tell the gender yet?" Angrboda stood up and poured Loki and himself a drink. He offered it to Loki, who took it gratefully and sipped.

"A son."

Angrboda grinned. "Another boy."

Loki gave a half-shrug. "I had held out hope for a girl."

"A daughter?"

"Yes." Loki smiled. "I have two sons already, and I would have liked a girl to balance things out."

"You cannot pick and choose."

Loki laughed. "I know, I know. But still..." He rubbed his stomach, and his hand bounced as the baby kicked fiercely. He winced. 

"If only your son had as good a temperament as his brother."

Angrboda snorted. "Jormungandr was in an egg. You couldn't tell."

Loki laughed as well, trying desperately to ignore the pain in his belly.

Yet he couldn't. For a further two weeks he endured the pain, until he woke up one morning crying and clutching his belly. Angrboda turned over with a start, helping Loki to sit up.

"You have to go back." He said around a tight throat.

"No!" Loki yelled, trying to resist curling up into a ball. "I want to have it here. I promised to have it here." He opened his eyes and peered at Angrboda through his tears. "You missed the birth of your first child, and he cannot come here. I cannot allow you to miss this one."

"Loki, I am versed in healing arts. But there is a limit to what I can do in Jotunnheim." Since the theft of the Casket of Ancient Winters, Jotunheim had been slowly declining, making it more and more difficult for the Jotun to live in outlying areas. More and more were congregating to the cities, and even they were now feeling the pinch. But Angrboda had been banished for the death of Farbauti, and to show his face was to mean death.

"You need to survive to raise out son, Loki." Angrboda put his hand on Loki's sweating face and made him look into Angrboda's eyes. "This baby might kill you if you don't get treatment."

"I...I..." Loki heaved a deep breath, and then groaned at the baby kicked again. He felt liquid slide out of him, and he wrenched back the sheet to discover that he was bleeding. It was only spotting, but it was enough to cause him to whimper in fright.

"Loki, go now!" Angrboda heaved Loki up and wrapped his cloak of feathers around his shoulders. He guided Loki to the door and held it open, letting Loki step outside and raise his arms.

"I will come back." Loki looked over his shoulder at Angrboda, sadness in his eyes. But that quickly turned to panic at the spots on the floor turned into a thin but steady drip.

"GO!" Angrboda roared and putting his hands around Loki's waist, he launched Loki into the air. Loki quickly took off, finding the wormhole and sailing through it.

Angrboda kept his eyes on Loki for as long as he could, then turned back into his house to clean up.

 

 

*********

 

 

"My lady!" One of the healers from the medical wing burst into Frigga's rooms, her robes trailing behind her. Fridge turned on her stool, the red cloak she was embroidering fluttering out of her hands and onto the floor. 

(Behind her, a green cloak lay on the ground, about to be embroided with the same protective runes as it's brother.)

"What is it?" asked Frigga, already standing.

"It is your son! He is injured but won't let us touch him."

"Thor?" Fridge said, hurrying to the medical wing and already pulling up her sleeves. But the healer shook her head. 

"No, it is Prince Loki."

Frigga pursed her lips and hurried on, outstripping the healer and bursting through the doors. On the floor lay her son, the cloak of feathers lying beside him. Fridge could se he was once again pregnant, and bleeding, and he was crying out and not letting the healers near him.

"Loki." She breathed. Loki opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Mother!" He reached out a blood stained hand and Frigga gripped it. She pulled Loki into her lap and held his shoulders through the squirming.

"Why is he not on a bed?" she asked. The healers looked helpless.

"He will not let us near him." One stepped forward. He gestured to between Loki's legs, which were clamped shut. 

"Loki," she whispered into her whimpering sons ear, "you must let them help you."

"No!" Loki sobbed. His stomach gave a particularly violent jolt and he arched his back, screaming.

"Loki, you will die!"

"Only you, only you!" Loki was nearly mad with pain, but he still had enough of his mind as to know that, healing oath be damned, news of his dual genitals would spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom. There were already rumours, Loki would rather there would not be fact to support it.

"Loki, I have no healing powers." Frigga was close to tearing out her hair with frustration. Loki stilled in her lap and caught her eyes. 

"Get Thor." He whispered. Frigga froze.

"Get Thor. Get Thor, get Thor, get Thor!" Loki yelled, surpassing everyone but jutting Frigga out of her stupor. She turned to the nearest healer.

"Get Prince Thor, now!" She roared and the healer scuttled off. She then had several others help Loki onto a bed, and settled by his head, stroking his hair out of his face.

Thor came into the room not 5 minutes later, sweaty from training and out of breath. He froze when he saw his brother and then moved closer.

"Loki?" he said softly, hardly believing the truth. He had been looking after his nephews in Loki's absence, and it ad broken his heart whenever Jormungandr had husked when his mother was coming back, and Thor had been unable to answer.

"Thor, come here." His mother asked softly, and he came to Loki, placing one massive hand on his forehead and stroking back the hair. Loki opened his eyes and looked at his brother, a tiny smile gracing his lips.

"Brother mine." Loki whispered. He took Thor's hand between his own and kissed the palm. Thor heard Frigga remove all of the healers from the room, but his world had narrowed in on his brother.

(As Loki knew he was in love with Thor, Thor also knew that he loved Loki as more than a brother. But they were singularly the universes worst communicators, and so would not know for many, many years.)

"Loki. You are back."

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" Loki joked, but then closed his eyes and arched up, groaning from behind gritted teeth.

"What is wrong?" Thor asked, taking Frigga's place by the head of the bed.

"My baby is killing me." Loki said breathlessly, the pain almost taking too much out of him.

"Ah." Thor said, continuing to stroke Loki's forehead. They sat in silence for a moment, before Loki turned to look at Thor.

"Help me." He whispered. 

(Loki would only ask for Thor's help one more time after this, and that time, Thor would be unable to do so. The gap between Loki and Thor would start with that.)

"Yes." Thor kissed Loki on the forehead and then moved down to the end of the bed. Loki covered his face and opened his legs, revealing himself entirely for the first time since they were children. Frigga stood in the corner and watched her children, and her heart ached, knowing what they would go through in the future before they found themselves.

Thor peered closer, looking past the blood decorating Loki's legs, to the slit that was slowly leaking. He was about to put a hand between Loki's legs when he was swatted on the head. He turned to glare at his mother when she pointed to the basin.

"Wash your hands!" she hissed. Thor grimaced as he remembered and then hurried over, scrubbing himself clean. He walked back to Loki and then reached forward. He gently put a finger into Loki and ignored Loki's hiss. His own magic, always thrumming beneath his skin, leapt to his fingertips and then inside Loki.

"He's a jumpy little man, isn't he?" Thor said absently. Loki snorted through his tears.

"He is tearing up my insides." 

"Unfortunately, that is exactly what he is doing." Thor said as his magic jumped. He wiggled his fingers and slowly his magic brought together Loki's torn uterus. Loki sighed and settled back against the bed. Thor patted Loki's leg with his other hand and, when Loki was healed, withdrew his fingers and wiped then on a rag offered by Frigga.

"What is the diagnosis, doctor?" Loki asked sarcastically. He was sitting up and looking much better, his eyes sparkling for the first time in a while.

"I've sent him to sleep." Thor said. He sat by Loki's bed and absently gripped his ankle, thumb absently rubbing the bone. "You need bed rest."

Loki frowned. "For how long?"

"For the entirety of the pregnancy." Thor said. His face was grave. "Your son will tear you apart if you choose to do more that walk a few meters. Any activity that causes him to move with make him more active, and this could very well cause you to miscarry him. Or he could tear you to ribbons, and you would die from blood-loss before we could deliver him safely."

Loki stared at Thor, one hand absently stroking his stomach. He thought about his immediate future, and the first ting that came to his mind was how  _bored_ he was going to be.

"I can get you books." Thor said.

"Can you read minds now?" Loki asked waspishly. True to form, Thor grinned and waved away the insult.

"I know how you think. As you primary physician, I'll be staying close. I want this pregnancy to be safe as much as you do."

Thor and Loki sat in silence, before Loki heaved a sigh.

"I suppose I must go to my rooms." He said and tried to get up off the bed. But Thor put a hand on his chest and pushed his down.

"I shall carry you." He said, picking up the cloak from the floor and putting it about his shoulders. He then scooped Loki up in his arms and went through the door, Frigga trailing behind then, giggling.

"I feel ridiculous." Loki grumbled. He nevertheless leaned into Thor's shoulder.

"Doesn't matter." Thor grinned at Loki. He then shuffled his shoulders under the cloak. "This is very comfortable."

"It is."

They chatted all the way to Loki's rooms, and Thor settled Loki into bed before divesting himself of the cloak and hurrying back to his rooms. Loki had just finished changing into a fresh nightgown when Thor came back in, Jormungandr resting about his shoulders.

"Mama!" Jormungandr said and quickly slithered off of Thor, hurrying to the bed where he climbed up and wrapped himself around Loki's shoulders, rubbing his head against Loki's cheek. Thor smiled and backed out of the room, allowing mother and son to reunite in peace.

"Where have you been, Mama? You were gone for a long time." Jormungandr said. Loki closed his eyes at the sound of his son's voice and cradled him close.

"I was visiting your father." Loki said.

"Why couldn't you bring me?" Jormungandr asked. 

"Because he lives in Jotunheim, and that is not an environment for you."

"I would have been okay." Jormungandr grumbled.

"No, you wouldn't."

They continued to nuzzle each other, until Jormungandr could no longer ignore Loki's belly.

"Is that a new sibling for me?" he asked. Being 9 years old had its perks, as he had already gone through the birds and the bees talk. 

"Indeed it is." Loki said, watching as Jormungandr settled his head onto Loki's belly. 

"Hello little sibling." Jormungandr whispered. Loki bit back a laugh.

"It's a boy. You shall have a brother." 

Jormungandr squealed in delight and squirmed. "Hello little brother. I'm your big brother, I'm Jormungandr."

Loki settled back and watched his son whisper to his unborn brother.

'This might not be so bad after all.' He thought to himself. He was surrounded by his family, and although his heart ached for Angrboda, he knew that he and his baby were safe.

 

 

*********

 

 

Loki had never had a normal pregnancy, so he had no idea if this counted as one. He sincerely doubted it, though, as his son seemed to be trying everything in his power to cause his mother as much distress as usual.

"I hope you are not this much trouble when you are born." Loki grumbled at his stomach. His son kicked in reply. Jormungandr giggled and wrapped closer around the bump, humming to his brother, who calmed down, instead turning circles.

"Keep doing that, and I may actually get through this pregnancy in one piece." Loki told Jormungandr, who hummed a 'yes' and bumped his head against Loki's belly, laughing out loud when he got bumped by the baby in return.

"Are you in pain?" Thor asked from the other side of the bed where he was sitting with a book.

Loki shook his head. 

"Good." Thor looked at his brother with concern in his eyes. He had been monitoring Loki closely since he had come home, and although he still had three months left to go of chic pregnancy, Thor had appointed himself primary physician to Loki, much to the healers annoyance. He had even stopped going to training practice so that he might be there for his brother. Sif and the Warriors Three had often come by Loki's rooms to beg Thor to come and spar with them, only to find themselves arguing with a stone wall. Thor would not be moved.

Jormungandr, noticing that the bump was no longer moving, got bored and slithered over to wrap himself around Thor's shoulders. "Tell me a story." He whined, and Thor laughed.

Loki settled back into his pillows and enjoyed the sight of his brother and nephew bonding.

(He wished, in the very depths of his heart, that instead of brother and nephew, it was father and son. It would be many years before this could be so.)

Loki's pregnancy progressed, and as he got nearer and nearer to his birth date, he started to worry about the birth itself.

'If the pregnancy was as bad as this, I may not survive the actual birth at this rate." He thought. He kept these thoughts to himself, as he knew that the same thoughts were crossing Thor's mind as the date neared. In a private moment, when they had sent Jormungandr to his grandmother, they had talked about the possibility of Loki dying during giving birth to his son.

"Are you worried?" Thor asked.

"About dying?" Loki asked. He shook his head. "No. I have long reconciled myself with the idea of death."

Thor felt himself go cold inside at those words, but prevented it from showing on his face. He would talk about this with Loki later.

(He never got the chance, and when Loki let go of the spear in the future, Thor would understand why Loki's showed no fear.)

"If you do die," Thor hastened, "what will happen to your children?"

Loki reached under his pillow and pulled out a piece of parchment. It was a hastily drawn up will, and as Thor looked upon it, he saw that Loki had given him custody of his children.

"Will you?" Loki asked softly. Thor swallowed around the limp in his throat.

"Of course. Of course I will." He said. He put the scroll in his pocket, and silently hoped that it was within his power to safely deliver this baby.

Loki got paler and paler and more and more tired as his birth date got nearer. Thor got more and more worried, and with the help of his mother he put a kit together in the medical wing, so that he was prepared when Loki finally went into labour.

The day that Loki finally gave birth was a cloudy day (fueled by Thor), and Loki knew immediately he was having his baby when he woke up to searing pain in his abdomen and his thighs were caked in blood.

"Thor!" he screamed. Thor crashed into the room and stood for a second, getting his bearings.

"The baby is in distress." He said, reading the signals in the air. He crossed the room and over to Loki, putting a hand around his shoulders and helping sit upright. Loki groaned and sat back against the pillow, fighting every instinct to curl up into a ball.

"If I may." Thor murmured and pushed Loki's nightshirt up, exposing his stomach. He placed his hands on the swollen lump and closed his eyes, concentrating on the baby. When he read the signals, he frowned and opened his eyes to look at Loki.

"The baby is breach. That is why you are in so much pain." Thor wiped his hair back from his face. Loki nodded and then groaned, curling up on himself. Jormungandr, handing from the top of the bed, hissed in distress and slithered down to wrap around his father. He licked the sweat from his face and looked imploringly at Thor. 

"There is a room prepared for you in the medical wing." Thor murmured. Loki gritted his teeth and nodded to Thor. Thor picked Loki up gently and paused to allow Jormungandr to wrap around his neck. He hurried to the medical wing, Loki groaning through the contractions. With each squeeze, his son kicked like fury, and tore more and more of his insides. 

Thor burst through the doors of the medical wing, Loki burying his face in Thor's shoulder to ride out the pain. He gently placed Loki on the bed of the private room, and gestured frantically to the healers, who hurried into the room. Thor stripped Loki of his nightshirt and let Loki lie on the bed as he knelt between his legs.

"Prince Thor..." one of the healers said. Thor glared at them.

"As I am the only one with the actual powers of fertility, and that includes child birth, I think that having me in the room would be a bonus other than a hindrance."

The healers stopped talking.

Loki's labour took most of the day. But the fifth hour, Jormungandr had left the room, Thor having sent him away to be with his brother. Sleipnir was a very good babysitter, and was very fond of his brother, and so was perfectly happy to look after Jormungandr until Loki was able to.

Thor was by Loki's head, wiping the sweaty hair from his face as Loki gulped down blood replenishing draughts. 

"Every time you have a contraction, the baby keeps kicking." He told Loki. Loki nodded at him through tear-glazed eyes.

"He wants to be born and is unable to." Loki gasped out.

"It will happen, but in the meantime you just have to ride it though." Thor held Loki through another contraction and then moved back down between his legs.

"Maybe the next baby will not be so bad." He said absently-mindedly.

"MaybeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Loki cried though a contraction, wrecking the arm of the birthing table off in his pain. The healers in the background looked somewhat impressed.

Twelve hours later, Thor peered between Loki's legs as he oiled his hands. He gently placed them inside Loki and cupped what felt like wet fur.

"Push with the next contraction." He wasn't sure that Loki could hear him by this point, but Loki gritted his teeth and pushed, whilst at the same time Thor pulled gently. Loki cried out and collapsed, whilst Thor was suddenly juggling a tiny wolf pup. It was like hold an oiled ball, as the pup squealed and kicked it's tiny legs.

"It's a wolf pup." He said in surprise.

"A wolf?" Loki said faintly, trying to sit up Thor quickly stood up and went to Loki, trying to keep ahold of his tiny new nephew. 

"Is it possible that Angrboda is a shapeshifter?" Thor asked. Loki was about to reply in the negative when the pup hiccuped, and hiccuped again, and then hiccuped for a third time. The suddenly Thor was no longer holding a squealing wolf pup, but a small human baby, who cried loudly and continued kicking.

"Oh." Said Loki faintly. Thor placed the baby on Loki's chest, and Loki's arm immediately came up to cradle him.

"He's beautiful." Thor said. He came and sat beside Loki and gently cupped the tiny head. Loki was shifting the baby so that his seeking mouth eventually found his nipple and started to suckle. Loki only had eyes for his son, who already had a thick thatch of black hair. When the baby opened bleary eyes, they were Loki's green, and Loki was pleased that at least one of his children had his colouring.

"What's his name?" Thor asked, thumb stroking that soft thatch of hair.

"Fenrir." Loki murmured. He gently cradled one tiny hand, letting strong black nails scratch his skin. His heart felt fit to burst right out of his chest.

"Fenrir, son of Loki." Thor said. He smiled at the baby. "A good name, for a good boy."

It was a family tableau that would take many years to achieve, and even thought Loki and Thor would go through hell in the meantime, the seeds of the foundation were sown when Fenrir took his first cry and sat cradled between the two people who loved him most in the world.

 

 

*********

 

 

Fenrir grew up to be an extremely happy and energetic child. He walked early and talked earlier (and never stopped, according to Loki). He toddled after anyone he knew, chatting a mile a minute. It was quickly revealed that, as much as Jormungandr preferred his serpent form, and loathed his bipedal form, it was the opposite for Fenrir. He revealed that the reason for this was that he preferred the freedom that having hands (and thumbs) gave him. Although he did admit that when it came to brute power, he would assume wolf form with the drop of a hat.

Fenrir was the child that Thor easily bonded too, as Fenrir was the one that would follow Thor would to the training fields, and it was often the scene that Thor would train with the Warriors Three and Sif, and Fenrir would be by the side, waving around a wooden sword. He was a pleasant child, and despite what everyone said, he tended to get on with everybody.

Jormungandr adored him, and servants in Asgard would often see a little boy with flyaway pitch black hair and wide green eyes running around with a huge poisonous snake. Sleipnir was also enchanted by his younger brother, and during the days of Loki's absence, the three brothers would often send the evening in Sleipnir's stable, all in bipedal form and all sharing body heat as they laughed like the young men they were.

When Loki went back to Jotunheim for the last time, he entrusted the care of his children to Thor. Thor was overjoyed, and spent many an evening with Fenrir on the carpet before the fire in his room, whilst Jormungandr curled up on the bed and read books.

However, Fenrir first got a taste of how difficult life was for his mama when Loki was dragged back to Asgard, once again pregnant. But this time, Angrboda came with him, and he was quickly revealed to be a Jotun. He was sentenced to death, and Loki desperately tried to shield his sons from the death of their biological father. But Odin was King, and ordered Jormungandr and Fenrir to be there. It was one of the rare time that Jormungandr was in public in his bipedal form, and he led his 8 year old brother to his shoulder, whilst Thor held Loki up, his mom's knees almost giving way.

"Don't look, brother." Jormungandr whispered to him. Fenrir whispered and gripped Jormungandr tightly around the neck. "Don't look."

When the axe was swung, and Angrboda was beheaded, Loki let out a single piercing scream and fled back into the castle, barricading himself in his rooms. Thor spent the days following the execution making sure that his nephews were safe, whilst Loki spent the days staring out of the window, slowly building the ways that would later surround his heart totally.

When Hela was born, Fenrir would often be found wandering that castle clutching the bundle that held his sister. The maids cooed at him, and said they had never seen a more devoted brother. Indeed, Fenrir was besotted with Hela, and Loki would often wake up in the morning to find that Fenrir was already rescued Hela from her cradle and was now somewhere in the castle with the baby, entertaining her. He was not scared by her appearance, and loved her so much that whenever they were separated, Hela would cry and Fenrir would sulk until they were reunited.

Fenrir was 10 when his brother was exiled, and once agin learned the full extent of his grandfathers mercy. He looked at the Court and saw no allies, and his mother, his beautiful mother, closed his face and his heart against the pain of loosing a son. Fenrir was observant, not quite as observant as Hela, but saw the pain in his mother's eyes.

That night, the remaining children of Loki would gather and mourn, whilst Asgard would be plagued by a storm of Thor's going.

After that, Fenrir started to train. He would spend evenings practising alone in the arena, his chosen weapon a sword. His grew, and although he would not grow as tall as his brothers, his mother or his uncle, he would broaden out. His face became handsome, with a strong jaw, and his shoulders broadened.

If he were the type, he would have taken up with some of the kitchen maids who sneaked out to watch him train. But he was waiting for someone.

So he trained, with his body and his magic. He held his beloved sister throughout the nights when her own powers would torment her, and he watched as his mother retreated back to his books, stealing his heart and forming the mask that would serve him so well in the future, and which would eventually lead to his downfall.

Thor watched with a heavy heart as his small family slowly hardened their hearts, even Fenrir, who's heart was the gentlest of all. He knew that Fenrir was preparing to fight a war that he imagined was coming, a war that would force him to defend his family, possibly to the death.

But Fenrir never got the fight that battle. In the end, he ran.

 

 

***********

 

 

Thor hurried to Loki's rooms and burst through the door, slamming it behind himself and allowing himself to sag against the door slightly. He saw that Fenrir was sitting by the fie, reading a magic book to Hela, and that Loki had been sitting at his desk, writing on a bit of parchment.

"Have you not heard of knocking Thor?" Loki asked sarcastically, setting down his parchment and looking at Thor with amusement on his face. But the amusement slowly dropped as Thor's expressions of panic did not change, and he did not look at Loki, but instead focused his gaze on Fenrir.

"Thor?" Fenrir asked slowly and stood up. Hela too got to her feet, and Loki came over.

"Fenrir." Thor said quietly. He came over and gripped Fenrir's shoulders.

"Thor, what is it?" Fenrir asked again.

"Have you ever threatened to assassinate Odin?"

The room suddenly went very quiet. Fenrir gaped at Thor, whose gaze was unwavering. He looked helplessly at his father, and then looked back at Thor.

"You must be joking."

"Fenrir, listen to me." Thor asked again. He shook Fenrir slightly to emphasise how serious he was. "Have you ever threatened to kill Odin, now or in the past?"

Fenrir licked his lips as he thought. "I...I..."

"What is this about?" Loki asked. He picked up Hela and held her against his chest, where she buried her head into his shoulder.

"Try claims he overheard Fenrir threaten to kill Odin."

"I may have said something to Jormungandr when Odin killed Angrboda."

Thor released Fenrir's shoulder and ran a hand through his hair, realising exactly what was going to happen. 

"Why would yo say something like that?" Loki whispered. Fenrir whirled around in anger.

"He had just killed my father! I was angry and a child! There was nothing to it! I would never actually kill my grandfather."

"It doesn't matter." Thor said softly. "Try had used this to build a case against you. He will justify everything he will do, base don that one statement spoken in anger."

"What's going to happen?" Fenrir asked. He felt...floaty. Like he was far away from everyone else on the room.

"He's coming after you." Thor said. He remembered walking past Tyr's rooms, and hearing the laughter of the men and the sound of metal on whetstone as the men honed their weapons. They had all sounded remarkably happy, considering they were all getting ready to assassinate a member of the Asgardian Royal family.

"He's coming to kill you." 

Hela moaned and buried her face into Loki's shoulder, whist Loki hid his face in her hair. Fenrir looked around the room, as though seeing it for the last time. He knew, in his heart, what was going to happen, and he wanted to remember everything about the room he had grown up in. About the place he had called home, and the place he was about to leave, and not see ever again.

"Fenrir." Thor said gently. He placed a hand on Fenrir's shoulder again, to get him to look back to Thor.

"You have to run."

"Run?" Fenrir gasped. Thor nodded.

"Run. Escape. Get to safety."

"Where?" Fenrir asked desperately.

"Midgard." Hela piped up. Everyone stared at her and she buried her head back into Loki's shoulder.

"Midgard." Loki breathed, His heart clenched when he thought of Jormungandr, all alone. But Thor and Hela were right. Fenrir did need to run, and Midgard was a place of safety.

Thor nodded. "You need to go now." He prompted.

"What?" Fenrir asked, as if in a daze.

"Go. NOW!" Thor roared, and everyone jumped into action. Loki put Hela down, who quickly hurried to the fire to keep out of everyone's way, and Loki raced to his bed, sliding to his knees and pulling out a leather traveling bag, which he threw to Fenrir. He bought it, and hurried over to his own bed. He grabbed everything he could stuffing it into the bag. Clothes, books, his knives...everything went in. Thor went over to the door to keep an eye out, and Loki went over to his potions cabinet, taking out the ones that would do the most good for Fenrir when he was in Midgard.

"Hurry!" Thor said through his teeth. He could hear the voices of Tyr and his men moving closer, and he knew that, if caught, Fenrir was going to die.

Loki went over to the cloak stand and took his cloak, fastening it around his neck and also putting on Hela's pulling the hood low over their faces. Fenrir put on his own half-cloak, which fell to his waist.

When Thor saw that the family was ready, he hurried them out of the door, fingering Mjolnir in his belt in case he needed to use it. He shepherded the family through the palace, making sure that they remained unseen.

"How will I get to Midgard?" Fenrir asked. He was moving swiftly, but every so often he would stop and look back at his home.

"Sleipnir will take you." Loki said. He steered then towards the stables, with Thor keeping an eye out and little Hela struggling to keep up. When they heard the roar of anger from Loki's rooms, they abandoned the pretence of secrecy all together and Thor scooped Help up into his arms as they raced to the stables.

"Mama?" Sleipnir asked when they got to his paddock. He trotted over and was about to ask again when Thor shoved Hela into Loki's arms and then grasped Fenrir about the waist, putting him on to Sleipnir's back and then settling his bag in front of him.

"Take your brother, you must ride to Midgard." Loki said. Hela was starting to cry, reaching out desperate arms for Fenrir. Fenrir was looking at him mother, at the mask that was shattering, and he gripped Sleipnir's mane between his fingers.

"Mama, what is happening?"

"Tyr is coming to kill Fenrir, he must be taken to Midgard, to Jormungandr. You can find him, I know you can." Loki said. He was desperate with worry.

"You must go. Now!" Thor said, holding Hela tighter as she started to shriek. Thor could hear voices in the distance, and Tyr was not stupid. He was coming.

"Go now. Go now!" Loki repeated. He pushed at Sleipnir's neck, and he started to turn and gallop away.

"WAIT!" Loki screamed and Sleipnir stopped. Loki raced to where they stood and reached up, throwing his arms around Fenrir's shoulder and dragging him down into Loki's embrace.

"Mama!" Fenrir sobbed and gripped Loki tightly.

"I love you, I love you." Loki whispered frantically into Fenrir's hair. "I'm so sorry, so sorry."

"I'll miss you."

"I know." Loki kissed his forehead repeatedly. "I love you, so much."

"Mama."

"We need to go." Sleipnir said. He too could now hear the voices. He let Loki release Fenrir then he leapt away, running for the edge of the world and leaping over.

"MAMA!" Fenrir cried and reached out a desperate hand to his mother, even as he gripped Sleipnir and settled in for the journey.

Loki fell to his knees, letting out one solid, unbroken scream of pain.

 

 

*********

 

 

When Tyr and his men got to the paddock, they found Loki on the ground, with Thor soothing his crying niece.

"He's a traitor to Asgard." Tyr said. He knew that his opportunity to rid Asgard permanently of Fenrir had passed, and he was mighty pissed off about it.

"He's my son." Loki whispered.

"A traitor through and through."

Loki turned, so that he could look at them through the curtain of his hair.

"Then does that make me a traitor?" he asked quietly.

"Everyone knows you are." Tyr said unchecked.

"Then nothing I do will make the slightest bit of difference, if I am already a traitor to the realm."

Tyr noticed that Loki was slowly getting to his feet, and saw for the first time the manic smile that was gracing his lips. He looked at Thor, but Thor was looking back at him from under lowered lids. Hela had quietened down and was staring at them, concealed in darkness and as a corpse.

"You are going to die." She said gravely.

"Prince Thor..." Tyr pleaded. But Thor's heart was hardened, and he shook his head.

"You made my son flee for his life." Loki hissed. His daggers plunged into his hands. "I shall take yours in return."

It was a bloodbath.

 

 

*********

 

 

Despite his rough start on Midgard, and the fact that he had to re-learn everything from Jormungandr when Sleipnir had departed, Fenrir thrived on Midgard. He spent many years with Jormungandr, learning about his new home. How currency worked, the feudal system, how to manage his own home.

How to be self sufficient.

When time came for him to strike out on his own, he went south, to the mainland. He travels via carts, via horse, and then on foot, revelling in the ability to transform into his wolf form and run through woods, howling at the moon and loving the fact that he didn't have to keep his voice down. 

When he came to the area of souther Germany that would be called Bavaria, he found himself in an area that told him that he was home. He knew, deep in his sol, that he could be happy here. He sent word to his brother, and then settled down. Initially, it was in a cabin he built himself deep in the forests of the region. But when time came, and he found himself employing people, his house got bigger and bigger.

Fenrir had landed in the latter part of the 1500's, when the Renaissance was coming into Europe from Italy, and so he never got used to the idea of poverty. Instead, he enjoyed learning about science, and history, and making sure that people under his empty got the best education they could wish for. Fenrir had established a lumber business, the best in Germany, and with his time set up schools for the children. Occasionally he would take a class himself, especially if he had just come back from visiting the southern tips of Europe.

Jormungandr found this all very amusing, and would tease Fenrir when he came to visit that a Prince of Asgard was lowering himself to become a teacher. But Fenrir would point out that, if they had remained in Asgard, both of them would be dead by now.

When Fenrir entered his majority, Jormungandr bought that land that Fenrir had set up his business on and gave it to him as a present.

"Mama can't give you anything. So I will act in his stead." He told his over-joyed brother. Fenrir knew how much Jormungandr missed their Mama, and he too spent some nights awake, wishing that he could see his family again.

Hela, his sister, would sometimes come and visit him when she wasn't busy with her own kingdom. The first time she appeared, Fenrir dropped the books he was reading and stared at her.

"Won't you come and greet me?" she asked. A smile was tilting her pale lips.

"Hela?" Fenrir whispered.

"Yes."

"Is it really you?" He came closer, and Hela then remembered that the last time he had seen her, she had been a girl of 5. Now she was a grown woman, and a Queen to boot.

"Indeed."

"Oh, sister mine!" Fenrir cried out and ran to her, hugging her and lifting her up into the air. She laughed in delight and hugged him back. They collapsed onto the floor, laughing and holding each other.

"I have not seen you for so many years!" Fenrir said, running a hand through her long black hair.

"I know, and I'm sorry for that."

"How is Mama?" Fenrir asked. In his arms, Hela deflated slightly. Fenrir felt himself go cold. "What is it? Is he dead?"

"No!" Hela said. She shook her head. "No, no, he is not dead. It is only, I have not seen him for some time."

"Why?"

"I have been ruling my own kingdom." She smiled sheepishly up at her brother. "I am Queen of Hell."

Fenrir gaped at her. She continued to smile at him.

"Queen?" he asked finally.

"Of Hell, yes."

"My own little sister, a Queen in her own right." He said wonderingly. They got up off the floor and dusted themselves off, before going to  sit down in chairs before the fire. "I knew you were destined for greatness." 

Hela laughed. "I don't thing either of us thought Hell would be it."

"You're name should have given it away." Fenrir admitted.

Hela grinned. "Yes, but let be honest, would any of us have even considered that it was myself that would be it's eventual ruler? It has been under the stewardship of Hades and Persephone for so long, it seemed like there would never be a ruler born for it."

"True."

They spent the evening talking, and long into the night. And when Hela eventually left, it was with a heavy heart, and a promise to visit more often.

And so Fenrir spent his years quietly, with occasional visits from his sister and his brother. When the Industrial age came, Fenrir increased his workforce to include manufacturing steel as well as lumber, and sat back to enjoy the profits.

This all changed with the arrival of the First World War. Fenrir had been aware that trouble had been brewing for some time, and had been doing his best to try and keep his people safe. But upon the declaration of war, and with conscription, suddenly he was left with a severely depleted work force. He didn't mind that the women took over the jobs, in fact he encouraged it. It was more the matter of keeping his people (his pack) safe. 

So he listed as an officer, and got sent to the front line in France. He endured the cramped conditions, the terrible food, and the violence, if only to keep his people safe. But when he saw the battlefield, the fighting, the fools commanding them, he almost fled, taking his men with him.

' _They are idiots,_ ' he wrote to Jormungandr. ' _Most of them have bought commissions, and those that do not have never seen a battlefield. It can scarcely write for the conjoint of my fingers, and the fact that I gave my last pair of gloves to a boy of 14. 14! There are children fighting this war, this senseless, pointless war._ '

' _You write as though you will flee at any second._ ' Jormungandr replied. ' _I know you will not, but this war cannot last forever. You have better endurance that anyone else in that camp, and remember, you mustn't die. You will break Mama's heart if you do. And mine. Stay alive, for Odin's sake don't eat all the chocolate at once, and come home._

 _P.S. Has it ever occurred to you that you are fighting on the wrong side? Germany will not win this war, and you will all suffer because of this._ '

Jormungandr was right. Germany lost, and paid hard.

"I have to send my workers home with their wages in wheelbarrows." Fenrir complained one night, with Jormungandr resting by the fire. "Money is now practically worthless."

"At least you can still pay them." Jormungandr said.

"Yes. At least there's that."

Fenrir admitted to himself later that he wished he could have done more. But he kept his head down, and spent the next two decades quietly keeping his businesses afloat. But when Germany declared a man whom Fenrir himself had served with, a man called Adolf Hitler, as Chancellor, Fenrir had experienced enough of history at the point to recognise a sinking ship when he saw one. But he could not abandon his workers.

Especially now, when he saw what was happening to the Jews of Germany. 

He set up a man he trusted in each of his factories, and went north to Berlin, to see for himself what was happening. What he saw terrified him. 

It was now 1941. Germany had been at war with Europe for 2 years.

And Fenrir Lokisson started to quietly and secretly move Jewish people from Germany to Sweden and Iceland.

It was a relatively simple process. With his brother, he sent word to families he thought might be in danger in Berlin. This would be via the dogs and cats who roamed the streets, and who he had come control over. They would be tied with messages, with instructions to burn immediately. The notes would often say how they would be transported, but never when. Then, on the night of evacuation, Fenrir would send one final note, telling the family in question to prepare for leaving. Fenrir himself would then rent a munitions truck, and disguise himself as a driver for his own company. The family would then move to a designated pick up zone (often the back of a cafe, where Fenrir had paid off the owner to keep quiet) and be picked up for transportation via a coded signal. Fenrir would then drive the family to the coast, where Jormungandr would be waiting with a simple rowing boat. The family would be loaded on to it and the Jormungandr would then push the boat to a safe harbour, which had been alerted to the arrival by Jormungandr that morning.

The families that were saved often took the symbol of the serpent and wolf entwined, as thanks for their rescue. They also never told a soul how they escaped, simply because they knew nobody would believe them.

And so Fenrir and Jormungandr operated their plan safely. Until Fenrir literally walked into Liesle, and changed his life forever.

 

 

**********

 

 

It was 1943, and Fenrir was walking the streets of Berlin alone. He had heard, via his contacts (animals) that there was a secret Jewish community operating out of one of the more desolate boroughs, and he was hoping to run across them, in order to convince them to escape. He knew that the war was becoming more and more brought with danger, now that America had joined, and he could sense, as could Jormungandr, that Herr Hitler was only going to get more desperate as time went on and it was becoming obvious he was going to lose.

Fenrir was so intent on finding this secret sect, he wasn't watching where he was going. As a consequence of this, he didn't see the woman hurrying towards him, and so he ploughed into her, knocking both herself and him to the ground.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. He shook his head, and rounded on her to tell her off. However, his words died in his mouth when he saw her.

"Dumkompf!" she swore at him, and picked herself up. She dusted off her knees and went to pick up the bags she had been carrying.

"Uh..." he said.

"I hope you didn't spill any food! It's expensive stuff, you know!" She looked into the brown bags and then turned her eyes to glare at him, still on the ground.

"Are you stupid?" she asked. The light was low, and it was almost curfew, but she peered at him with her brows down.

"No!" Fenrir finally said, standing up. His trousers had a large rip in them, and his coat was dusty, but he ignored all of that. He was only interested in the woman standing before him.

"No, I was only dazed." He said.

"Oh. Well good." She said. "I would hate to have caused you permanent brain damage."

"I wouldn't worry about that." Fenrir smiled at her. "There's not much up there to damage."

She laughed, face creasing with delight, and Fenrir thought that his heart was going to stop. He suddenly found himself wanting to make sure that she was laughing the rest of her life. 

'Oh." He thought. 'So that's what it feels like.'

When she stopped laughing, she put out her hand. "Liesle Brandt."

Fenrir takes her hand. "Wulfric Hotlzmann." Internally he winced. He hated lying to her, but if he said his true name and she was part of Hilter's internal spy network, he was as good as dead. He hoped she wasn't. He had never set much store in the idea of love at first sight, but honestly, he was happy to admit that in this instance, he was wrong.

"Well, it's a pleasure to have knocked you down, Herr Holtzmann." She smiled at him, her mouth wide and he eyes crinkled in amusement.

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." Fenrir grins at her, his white teeth shining in the darkness. They stand there, smiling at each other like idiots, until the street lights come on.

"Oh, I'm late!" she suddenly exclaims, looking at her watch. 

"I am sorry." Fenrir says. He holds out his arm. "Is there somewhere I can escort you too?"

She blushes. "I'm just going home."

"Can I still escort you?" Fenrir asked hopefully. She laughed again.

"If you insist." She said and looped her arm through his. He turned on the street and let her lead, talking about everything they could think of that didn't include the war. He learned that she was the third child of five, that she had four brothers that didn't go to war, and lived with her parents and her two aunts and uncles. She learned that he was the third child of four, that he lived alone but often visited his second brother, that he missed his sister and older brothers, and that he fled from his home because a family friend was bent on killing him. He told her he missed his mother like there was no tomorrow, and she told him she had a twin sister that died when they were 13 of pneumonia.

(He didn't tell her that he was the son of a god, and that he frequently ran as a wolf. She didn't tell him she was Jewish, and in fact was a member of the Jewish sect he had been looking for.)

He escorts her into her house, where she insisted he meet her family. He found that she resembled her father, a tall, largely built arian man by the name of Johann. Her spirit came from her mother, small and dark, but with a firecracker for a soul.

"Where have you been?" she asked as soon as they cam through the door. However, she did not ask Liesle, but Fenrir, who frowned at Leisle's blush. Her two younger brothers crowed at the sight of Liesle's arm through Fenrir's and were promptly clipped on the head by her eldest brother, who's absence from the front line was explained by him missing an arm.

"Uh...uh..." Fenrir stuttered.

"Mama, honestly." Liesle said and went to her mother, holding out the food and kissing her on the cheek. "Herr Holtzmann was just escorting me home. He's been nothing but a gentleman, and I expect he is also hungry." She turned expectant eyes onto Fenrir, who nodded. The mother sighed deeply.

"Then I expect you will want to stay for dinner." She said. Her expression was stern, but her eyes glinted with amusement.

"If that is alright with you." Fenrir said. He stepped into the house and took off his hat, grinning at the family and watching them all grin back.

' _I am in love._ ' He wrote to his brother later that night. ' _It's very serious. She delightful, and adorable, and a real spirit. Mama would love her._ '

Jormungandr's reply came back two days later. It consisted of one word.

' _Now?!'_

Despite the fact that Fenrir was working hard under the eyes of the Gestapo, getting people he deemed to be in danger out of Berlin and to safety, he still found time to take his new beau to restaurants and dancing. She was the perfect German woman, small, blond hair, sky blue eyes. She laughed and snapped back, and each day Fenrir was falling more and more in love with her.

His time with Liesle was nearly cut short when he wandered through her house, enjoying the sound of her arguing with her brothers and aunts, when he stumbled into the room of her second eldest brother. He had been hidden form the authorities, because he was terrified of going outside, to the extent of being unable to step out of the door before falling to the ground in a dead faint.

"Hello Heinrich." Fenrir greeted. Heinrich watched him from his desk, grey eyes peeking out from beneath overlong black hair. His face was thin, and if he allowed himself to build up muscle, he would have been as tall as his father. Instead, he was skinny, with wasted muscles on his arms. 

"Wulfric." Heinrich greeted. His stood up and curled his arms around his chest. He was as tall as Jormungandr, and Fenrir felt a bolt of home-sickness when he realised he had not seen his brother for a while.

"I hope you are well." Fenrir said. He leaned against the door, making sure that Heinrich knew that Fenrir wasn't intimidated.

"As well as I am ever. I see you continue to invade out house through Liesle."

Fenrir frowned. "I care deeply for your sister. I would have hoped that you see that."

"Oh, I do." Heinrich went over to the window and opened it. He pulled a cigarette out of his case and lit it, throwing the match out of the window. He offered the case to Fenrir, who took a cigarette out and also lit it. They stood side by side, smoking into the night.

"Do you love her?" Heinrich asked suddenly. He took a deep drag and held the smoke in, watching Fenrir out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes." Fenrir said immediately.

"Do you love her enough to stay with us?" Heinrich let out the smoke.

"Yes. Although I have a successful business in Bavaria. If it were amenable, I would take her there out of the city. I think she would prefer the countryside, and it might be safer."

"What about us?"

"You could all come too."

Heinrich laughed and stubbed his cigarette on the window sill.

"It's a damn sight safer in the country than it is in the city, that is true." He said. He crossed his arms and leaned against the window, tilting his head and looking at Fenrir with amusement. Fenrir felt a bolt go through him, as he remembered his mother making the same face at him when he was a child. Heinrich even looked a bit like Loki.

"I would have Liesle safe, and if that means her entire family coming with us, then I'll happily do that." With that, Fenrir turned to go out of the room. But he stopped when he saw something glint from under the bed. Quick as a flash, he dove under there and pulled out the object. When he brandished it in the light, he looked at Heinrich as saw that he was pale and sickly.

"Is this a menorah?" he asked softly. Heinrich's silence was enough.

 Fenrir turned and walked out of the room, clambering down the stairs as he heard Heinrich follow. He burst into the kitchen, still clutching the menorah.

"Wulfric, you must try this!" Liesle said, turning from the stove. "It's..." she trailed off when she was what he was clutching, and one by one, the rest of the family turned and saw. Fenrir kept his eyes on Liesle, and so did not notice the pistol until he heard the click of it at his head.

"I'll kill you." He heard Heinrich say softly. He turned at looked at the brother, pale and sweating in the light.

"Wulfric..." Liesle whispered.

"I have to kill you, because otherwise we shall all die."

"I know." Fenrir said. He felt oddly calm. He walked to the kitchen table and put down the menorah, before turning to the family at large.

"Would I be right to assume that you would be the leaders of the secret Jewish sect that has been operating from this particular area for the last 5 years?" he asked. He saw Liesle's mother moan softly in horror and bury her head into Johann's chest, where he clutched her and tried desperately to comfort her.

"I take that as a yes." Fenrir saw down softly, making sure that all the family had their eyes on him.

"I am the leader of the Lokisson retrieval operation. I am sure you have heard of us." He smiled ruefully. "I have been working with people from all over this city, and when I bumped into you, Liesle," he nodded at her, "I was looking for you. I would like to help you to leave Germany. You are not safe here, and I would see you all to safety." 

The family stood in silence, before the mother bust into relieved tears and ran to him, hugging him tightly. The family deflated like a burst balloon, and the eldest brother gently took the gun from the sobbing Heinrich, guiding him to a chair and sitting him down. Only Liesle was standing still, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

When the meal had finished, he walked to the door, only to be turned around by a hand on his elbow. He opened his mouth, but Liesle slapped his airplay across the face. He gripped his reddened cheek, gaping at her.

"You frightened the life out of me." She hissed at him.

"I'm sorry. But how could I tell you? You might have told someone, and they would have told a member of the Gestapo, or the SS, and I would have been killed. I couldn't risk that, for you or myself and my brother."

"You could have trusted me." 

He gently cupped her face and kissed her. When he drew back, he wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I trust you with my life. And now I know the truth, I will move Heaven and Hell to get you to safety."

Of course, now that he had finally managed to contact the Jewish sect he had been looking for, he found himself facing the most selfless family in the whole of Germany. He frequently went up against Liesle's mother and her iron will, transporting families and making sure that his own people were as safe as possible. He took Liesle out on dates, and was sure that he was going to marry this woman. He bought a ring, and kept it hidden, waiting for the right time.

But in May of 1944, Fenrir went to Liesle's house, intent on taking her out dancing.

He found a burnt out shell, with the doors kicked open and the windows blasted out. When he walked through the house, numb, he saw Heinrich's gun, emptied of bullets. 

He looked at the house, the first place where he had felt a sense of family since he had left Jormungandr's house all those years ago. 

He felt nothing but intense, all consuming hate. And he went underground.

He followed the paper trails. Every person, every soul that had been rounded up and transported had been logged, like they were nothing but cattle. And too the Nazi's they were. He broke into offices, tore though folders, finding everything he could about the missing families.

He followed the trails of the men and the aunts to Auschwitz, where he learned that there was nothing he could do to save them. He closed his eyes as the thought of those little boys, of the poor tortured Heinrich, being gassed in such a terrible manner. He prayed for them that night, the first time he had ever done so. His sister would keep them safe, but he wanted to know that they entered her kingdom with his love.

But when he saw that Liesle and her mother were not among those taken, and were instead separated and taken to a different camp, one in Germany, he temporarily rejoiced. He took he papers in his hands, and then ran to where he assumed the camp was. He frequently got lost, and eventually abandoned his shoes and coats, changing into his enormous wolf form.

He arrived at the camp in January of 1945, ragged and panting. He was clutching papers, and growling in his chest at the overwhelming smell of death and disease.

"What the hell..." the guards at the gate looked at the ragged man, whose hair was wild and eyes glinting.

"Liesle Brandt." He choked out, still half wolf.

"What?" one of the men laughed.

"Where is Liesle Brandt?" 

"Huh?" The men looked puzzled for a brief minute, before he started choking with laughter.

"I think he wants one of the whores." The rest of the men started laughing. Fenrir tilted his head and his eyes flashed.

"Whores?" he whispered. His shoulders started broadening and his voice came lower.

"Yes, some of the kikes who came were somewhat attractive, and so-" He didn't get further than that. Fenrir leapt upon his and tore him in half, causing the other men to start screaming and firing at him. But guns were no use, and he killed them as well. He entered the camp in his natural form, a wolf with black fur with shoulders as tall as a man. The men, the guards screamed at ran, but Fenrir stepped on them and tore down fences. He scented for Liesle, but couldn't find her. When he came to a group of young girls, he bent down so that he looked one of them in the eye. She was small, with a pale thin face and large dark eyes.

"What is your name?" he growled. The girl gulped but stepped forward, shaking in the cold.

"Anne." She whispered.

"Anne, where do they keep the women they sleep with?"

She shivered but pointed out the building, and Fenrir pulled the coat off of a guard and draped it around her. 

"Thank you." She whispered and pulled the coat around her shoulders. Fenrir turned away and she cried "Who are you?"

"I am Fenrir, son of Loki."

"Fenrir." She said and gave him a tremulous smile. He lowered his head towards her in respect and then turned away, walking to the building and tearing down the door.

"What are you doing?" one of the female guards hissed at him. The prisoners huddled together in the back, all shivering with fear.

"Taking back what belongs to me." Fenrir said and shouldered her aside. When she turner her gun on him her snapped it out of her hand, bring it in two and then watching her flee with dispassionate eyes. The rest of the guards followed suit, and then it was only Fenrir with the women. He changed back to his human forma and rolled his shoulders, before walking up to the group.

"Liesle?" he asked softly. The women shifted and looked at each other, then parted. A skeletally thin woman walked forward, her arms wrapped around her chest, and it was only her sky blue eyes, full of pain and longing, that told him he had the right woman.

"My beloved." He whispered and took her gently in his arms. Her knees gave out and she buried her face into his bare chest. One of her arms came around his neck, and he could see that she had the numbers 237495 tattoos into her arm. He cradled her gently and picked her up. 

"Is her mother here?" he asked the women. One stepped forward and shook her head.

"She died, a few weeks ago."

Fenrir closed his eyes in grief. He opened them again and nodded to the women, turning and walking to the door. When he came through, he saw that the surviving prisoners of the camp (those that could walk) had gathered there.

"What shall we do?" a man asked. The rest stood in silence, waiting of their answer.

"Stay here." Fenrir said.

"What?" gasped another man.

"Stay here. The war is ending, Hitler's empire is crumbling. The British and American's are coming. Stay in this place, make it liveable and wait for them. There are seeds, food in the barracks. Stay here and survive, you will be liberated soon. I promise you, it will be alright."

The crowd murmured, and Fenrir stepped down the stairs, carrying his beloved home. He walked through the crowds of starving people, catching eyes, looking at their faces, and committing this to memory. He never wanted to forget just how low humanity could sink. But he also wanted to remember the resilience of the human spirit and how, if you lived and survived long enough, humanity could become as hardy as the gods themselves.

He walked out of the gates, with his wife in his arms, and left the survivors of Hell behind him to make their own home out of the ashes of their pain.

 

 

**********

 

 

When the Americans and the British came tot he camp, they were expecting to the see horrors of what they had heard from their comrades. Skeletal figures draped in rags, corpses piling up and disease in the air.

Instead, they found people, though thin, were relatively healthy. The men worked fields, and the women cooked in the communal kitchen. Those people whoo had previously worked in the medical profession kept the camp healthy, and the children played amongst the adults, or were thought by those teachers in the camp. When the men rolled up in their tanks, they were greeted with cheers and flowers.

"What..." one of the men asked, pushing back his helmet. A girl walked beside him, large dark eyes flashing and a notebook clutched under her arm.

"The Great Wolf liberated us." She said, laughing.

"O...kay." The men attributed this to her youth and walked with her to the camp leaders. But he found that the entire came shared her views, and for many years afterwards, the story of the Liberation of Bergen-Belsen by the Great Wolf Fenrir went down in World War II history, although many people in the future just called this a story.

But a young girl knew the truth, and when she died in her bed 70 years later, a best selling author of children stories about the Nordic Pantheon, she entered the kingdom of Hell willingly, happy to meet another of the children of Loki.

 

 

***********

 

 

For a long time after her rescue, Liesle did not talk to Fenrir. He had told her his true name, his history, and during his time in Sweden with his wife, he spent a lot of time outside her door, pleading that she speak to him. He knew she needed to mourn, he knew she needed to process things, but he wanted to explain himself.

When she did come down, her hair was a stubby growth on her head, and she wouldn't look him in the face. But she sat by the fire, and listened to him, and tried to understand.

But she eventually did forgive him, and she married him, three years after her rescue. She shared his blood, and did not age.

Fenrir took back his businesses in Bavaria, and moved himself and Liesle to a stone cottage int he middle of a field. Liesle became a teacher at the local school, and kept her youthful good looks, breaking many hearts when she smiled and laughed. She never wore short sleeves.

When her husbands oldest brother came to live with them, she accepted him with open arms. She was the one who encouraged him to start painting, and funded his first exhibition. Fenrir watched from the sidelines, and wondered when he got so lucky.

But when Hela came to them, and told them that a new sibling was on the way, it was Liesle, his beloved Liesle, who booked the flights, packed the bags, and moved them into the Tower whilst the Avengers slept.

And as he watched his wife guide his mother to a chair, allowing Loki to sob into her shirt, he knew that he was finally,  _finally_ , home.


	4. Hela

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hela, the last of the children of Loki, and the Queen of Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have taken a new view of Hela's traditional appearance, and also that of the hell-hound Cerberus. Hope I don't opened anyone, but this is my personal cannon. 
> 
> Cerberus looks like a huge Alsatian, with longer fur.
> 
> For Persephone's crown, I have borrowed the one worn by Lucilla in Gladiator, the first time they watch Maximus fight in the main arena.

Loki flew back to Angrboda as soon as he felt it was safe too, and not a moment before. He had been witnessing the pain and ostracisation that his son shad been getting, and he wanted to make sure that, when he left, they would be safe. He was fortunate that he had Thor to act as a willing babysitter (his heart wished father, but he couldn't have everything) and that, although he might not have been able to stop the mouths of every person who insulted his children, Thor would at least be able to provide sufficient cover to help his nephews at least try to ignore the whispers.

Loki knew he had to return to Angrboda, as the man had been in a frantic state when he left the last time. The least Loki could do was tell him that he was alive, and that his son was healthy.

He knocked on the door, and waited with a smile on his face when he heard Angrboda crashing behind it. He opened the door, where his expression of annoyance changed to one of delight.

"You are alive!" He exclaimed and dragged Loki in by the cloak. The door slammed shut behind him and Loki out his cloak on the rack, turning back to Angrboda with a grin.

"Indeed."

"And our son?" Angrboda asked tentatively, turning around to put the kettle int he fire, so that he could make some of Loki's favourite tea.

"Alive and healthy."

Angrboda breathed out a sigh of relief and then took Loki in his arms, clutching him closer and pressing his lips to Loki's forehead. He could feel Loki kiss him through his shirt, and recognised affection and love. For his part, Angrboda adored Loki, and would have (successfully, he thought) convinced Loki to stay with him, had be not been a Price of Asgard and second in line to the throne.

"You could not bring him." Angrboda said, feeling disappointed. Loki looked at him with commiseration in his eyes.

"When he is older. When he can stand the cold. Up until that point, he needs to stay where it is warmer." Loki told him, sitting down in front of the fire and accepting a cup of tea. He sighed as he warmed his hands, holding the cup close and breathing in the fragrant herbs. He sipped it, and hummed with pleasure as the warmth hit his belly.

"What is his name?"

"Fenrir. Hang on, I have picture." Loki set his cup down on the floor and dug into the pockets of his overcoat, pulling out hand drawn pictures of his children. He had done them when his children had not been aware, so they were naturally posed, laughing and playing with each other, rather than some of the rigid postures his had been forced to adopt when he had had portraits done, by himself or with his family.

"He is beautiful." Angrboda breathed. He took the pages that Loki held out and cradled, looking at his new son and his older one for the first time. Loki smiled gently at the reverence. He hoped that one day he would be able to see his son's for real.

"He is rambunctious. He gets into everything. His magic is strong, but he very rarely uses it."

"Does he have another form?" Angrboda asked, still looking at the pictures. Loki leaned over and shifted the pages, pulling out a picture of Fenrir in wolf form. He was glaring at his mother, who had forced him to remain in that form for a good hour before he allowed to change back. He immediately ran outside, raving his arms and chasing Jormungandr, who slithered before him in delight. Loki relayed his story to Angrboda, who laughed heartily.

"I wonder who he takes after most?" Angrboda mused.

"At the moment, it's his uncle."

"Thor?" Angrboda looked up in surprise. Loki nodded.

"I wonder why?" Angrboda muses, setting his drawings back on the table and then picking up his own cup of tea.

"I haven't a clue." Loki confesses. He settles back in his own chair, looking at Angrboda. In his future years on Midgard, he would hear the expression 'looking through rose-tinted spectacles'. When he thought back to this moment, he would know that the expression applied to this moment entirely. Especially since he knew what was going to happen.

They sat side by side, each looking at each other with devotion and trust. As the evening came down, and the fire burned low, Angrboda put down his cup and took Loki by the hand, leading him over to the bed. He undressed Loki slowly, running his lips over exposed skin, and when Loki lay down against the furs, he was already flushed and gasping.

"I have missed you like this." Angrboda whispered, quickly undressing and looming over Loki. Loki wrapped his arms around Angrboda's shoulders and brought his face down, where Loki whispered against his lips,

"I have missed you like  _this_."

 

 

***********

 

 

They had a month and a half of grace, before Loki became pregnant by Angrboda for the last time. Unlike the other pregnancies, Loki knew the minute that he became pregnant. He had lain on his back, gasping and taking in the afterglow, when suddenly he felt his body go completely cold. He arched his back, gasping desperately for air.

"Loki" Angrboda exclaimed. He touched Loki's arm, and then hissed in alarm.

"Loki, you're ice cold."

Loki turned his face towards Angrboda, still gasping for air. Angrboda nearly pulled away, shocked at the change in Loki's face. It had become sunk, all of the bones showing. His cheeks had seemingly disappeared, and his skin had taken on a pallor so pale he was almost blue. This continued down his body, all of his bones showing in stark relief, like he was a victim of constant and unceasing starvation. But most shocking of all were Loki's eyes. They had become completely black, not even the white showing. Black and glittering, like the sky with no stars or no moon.

It was the only time in his life (when he would not be in Joutn form) when Loki's eyes would change colour.

"What...is happening... to me?" Loki gassed, still trying to get air into his lungs.

"Your appearance had changed." Angrboda said helplessly.

"I feel...like I'm gong to die." Loki closed his changed eyes and concentrated on breathing. He placed a hand on his stomach to try and regulate his breathing, and then froze as his magic detected something. He concentrated, and when he felt the magic (so young, so  _small_ ), he opened his eyes and turned his head slowly to look at Angrboda. His thin face twitched as he tried to smile.

"Your fertility...knows...no bounds." He got out. He gasped again and twisted as he felt his insides turn to ice. 

"What?"

"Baby." He gestured to his stomach. "In...here."

Angrboda gaped at him. "Again?"

Loki nodded and then groaned. He kicked his legs in futility and curled around his stomach. Angrboda could do nothing but rub his back, waiting for Loki to ride it out.

It took a good few hours before Loki settled enough to drink some soup. His appearance remained skeletal, and his eyes remained black. When Angrboda had showed his him new appearance in the mirror, Loki had gone quiet in horror.

"What is this horror?" he whispered to himself. Angrboda could do nothing but shrug. Loki had then put down the mirror and looked at his mate in serious confusion. 

"Have you ever seen this before?" he asked. Angrboda shook his head.

"No. And I have never seen one person have such a different reaction during multiple pregnancies. Each one you have had has presented you with different challenges, your body had reacted in different ways. All I can say is that maybe it is our different magics combining in different ways, and that is the reason for each child presenting in a different form each time."

"But what could possibly have happened this time?" Loki said. "I look like a corpse."

Angrboda said nothing. He merely folded Loki up in his arms and stared at the low light from the fireplace.

Loki lay with his hands on his belly, assuring himself that his baby was still alive, still awake in his womb. He had born three children so far, and each pregnancy had been as different from the one before it as possible. From what he gathered, Sleipnir had been the most normal pregnancy. Jormungandr had been the strangest, Fenrir had been the most dangerous. 

But this might be the first baby he bore that caused him to wonder at how powerful his child would be. He had lost complete use of his magic, except for being able to detect his baby. Even the fire that had always been his easiest magic (his own birth magic, although he couldn't have known that when he was born, Angrboda had nearly dropped him when for a brief second he had lit up like a lit coal) was no longer accessible.

For the first 4 months of his pregnancy, he kept solely to the bed, too afraid to move far in case he caused himself to abort the baby. This was unlike anything he had felt before, and he was so afraid, so concerned by his new appearance that he did anything he could to make sure that the baby was safe.

Angrboda was loathe to leave him, but he still had to make his living. He acted as a doctor to others living in the Iron Wood, people who were either banished from the capital or could not make the move to the centre of Jotunheim. He did not charge as much as he could of, but he still needed to buy food and medicine for Loki. Loki himself kept the small house he lived in as clean as he could without moving around too much. He ate more than he had during any other pregnancy but he still didn't look like he gained weight. He face remained corpse-like and pale, his eyes black and ethereal. 

Angrboda sometimes wondered to himself whether Loki was going to be able to carry this pregnancy to term, as he suddenly seemed to be as fragile as the bird Angrboda had compared him to the first time they met. But each time Loki drifted off into sleep, each time he closed his eyes and his breathing slowed, he woke up again in the morning, somehow stronger than he had been before.

Month five was Loki's realisation that, despite the fact that his baby had reduced his appearance to something dug out of a grave, his baby was gong to be there to stay. And so, for the first time, Angrboda saw Loki's temper, as he came home one day and found Loki outside, dressed in furs and skinning an animal.

"What the Hell do you think you are doing out here?" he said, voice growling. Loki ignored him, continued to skin the animal with surprising ease.

"Loki, get back inside."

"Why should I?" Loki said finally. He set down his knives and wiped his hands in the snow. He stood up and settled a hand on his stomach, cradling the still flat flesh. But his black eyes were steely. "I know now that my baby is safe, and that I came start to pull my weight."

"You can pull your weight by cleaning the house and keeping that baby safe!" 

"It is safe. I am safe, we are safe!" Loki hissed, baring his teeth.

"How can you know that?" Angrboda was still furious. "All your other pregnancies have forced you to go back to Asgard? How can you know that this one will be any different?"

"I trust my body to tell me." Loki replied coldly, pulling himself up to stand as tall as he could. For one dreadful moment, his skin flashed blue, and Angrboda thought that maybe his false skin was dropping. But Loki then remained pale and white, and Angrboda thought that he had imagined it.

(He hadn't. Baby Hela had been working her magic, but no one could have know that at the time).

"You can trust your body all you like, I am a doctor, and I am telling you to  _get inside the house_!"

"You think to order me about, like some woman!" Loki roared. "I am not a woman! I am Loki, and you cannot order me to do anything!"

"You could be the King of Heaven, and I would still order your pregnant arse back inside the house!"

"Oh, such gallant words." Loki mocked. "Such tender concern for myself!"

"It is concern! That is my baby as well in your belly. You are dear to me, and I would not see you push yourself so that you lose a baby and possibly your own life!" Angrboda switched to pleading, trying to appeal to Loki's tender side. It was buried deep down, but Angrboda knew that it was there, even thought it was becoming more and more difficult to find it.

Loki's expression remained stony, but his eyes glittered with remorse.

"You are dear to me too." He whispered. His words were nearly swallowed up by the howling gale, but Angrboda still heard them.

"I only wish for your safety." Angrboda came up to Loki and covered him with his arms. His brought his face to Loki's and kissed him gently. Loki caught his lips and kissed back, and then pulled away to look at Angrboda with narrowed eyes. He cupped his cheeks and made Angrboda look at him squarely.

"I appreciate that, but I need you to trust me."

Angrboda laughed, but smiled at Loki gently. "The God of Lies, telling me to trust him? Has the sun inverted with the moon?"

Loki smacked him. "This is my baby as well. Trust me, I would do nothing to harm it."

After a long while, Angrboda sighed and leaned back, turning his head. He heard the sound of an approaching snowstorm, and took Loki gently by the elbow. He took the carcass formats hook and let both into the house, shutting the door firmly. He put the skinned animal on the kitchen table and then guided Loki to the fireplace, sitting him down and then kneeling in front of him.

"I will trust you." He said finally. "I shall. But you need to understand my concern as well. This is a pregnancy unlike any I have seen before. You have literally turned into a corpse, your magic is gone, and I know that your appetite has gone. No," he held up a hand when Loki tried to speak, but he settled back with a moue of annoyance on his face, "don't bother arguing with me."

"I wasn't about to argue." Loki muttered under his breath. Angrboda laughed.

"Loki, you would argue with Death if you thought you had a chance of winning."

"True. Bad example, all things considering, but true."

But Loki was smiling at him. He reached out a ran a hand through Angrboda's hair before cupping his face.

"I am glad you have decided to listen to me. I will trust you as you shall trust me. I'm having a baby, a powerful baby, one that shall represent both Asgard and Jotunheim."

"A truly unique being." Angrboda murmured and put his hand over Loki's stomach. His arm went immediately cold, a trait he had come to recognise as being purely a part of the baby.

So Loki got his freedom, at least as far as getting out of the house to hunt for food. His daggers became extensions of his once gone magic. Animals fell dead before they felt the pain. Loki would spend hours waiting, keeping to the shadows, watching, waiting for them to make a mistake.

(He would keep this trait when he went back to Asgard, watching people, waiting for them to make a mistake.)

It made him feel vaguely useful, now that his magic was gone. Loki abhorred feeling bored, and loathed doing nothing. Even thought he knew he didn't need to, he wanted to earns keep, and so had fought hard for his freedom, his right to decide what he could do for his makeshift family. It was important to him that he prove himself to be a useful member of the household, and not something that was there for decoration (as he sometimes felt on Asgard).

One night, in the middle of the seventh month, he was shaken awake by Angrboda, who was leaning over him and staring wide eyed at his belly.

"What is it?" he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Angrboda didn't talk to him, but grasped his hand and pulled it towards his stomach. Loki was about to protest when Angrboda ran a hand over the flesh, and Loki felt the hand hit the bomb his body was now supporting. He gasped, and flung back the sheet and rolled up his night-shirt so he could see the bump for his own eyes.

"Hello baby." He whispered. Angrboda grinned at Loki and covered the bump with his own hands.

"A truly miraculous thing." He said. Loki smiled at him wetly as he too set his hands on his stomach over Angrboda's.

'I could take him back to Asgard,' He thought suddenly. 'I could take him back to meet his children, and he could be mine. We could be a family all together.'

But Loki would never get to do this, for at the end of the ninth month, when he was preparing to tell Angrboda his plan, Odin sent his guards after Loki to retrieve him, and Loki's world fell apart.

 

 

**********

 

 

It was a perfectly ordinary day when Loki was ripped from his somewhat idyllic life. The bump was staring to impeded his walking, and he had slowly been reduced to jointing the kills that Angrboda brought back, as he had recognised that hunting was now putting the baby in danger, and so had one again limited himself to housework.

It was a quiet evening, one spent by the fire. Angrboda was reading, and Loki was simply staring in to the flames, hands caressing his bump slowly. He turned his head to ask Angrboda for some herbal tea, when the door was kicked in, and several members of Odin's personal guard burst into the room.

"What-" Loki said as he was pulled to his feet. Angrboda was kicking and struggling, roaring with anger as he was subdued.

"Prince Loki, by order of your father, you must be returned to Asgard immediately." The guard holding his arm said, dragging him towards the door. He reached out an arm and grasped his cloak, pulling it around himself against the wind.

"How dare you come in here unannounced!" Loki said, pulling himself upright. He glared at the guards as they dragged Angrboda out, who was still kicking and struggling. "On what grounds do you have to arrest my mate?"

"The grounds of the illegal seduction and defilement of a Prince of Asgard." The guard leered at Loki, who spat at him. But he could not hide his pregnancy, and so many of his fellow guards also leered at Loki. 

"This was a perfectly mutual match, and I would have you release him and go back to Asgard now!" Loki said, walking to Angrboda with the intent of making the guards release him.

"I have orders from the King himself to bring you back and the Jotun who raped you."

"Jotun?" Loki ignored the rape comment, too confused by what the guard had said. Behind him, Angrboda froze, his stomach feeling more and more heavy with dread. "This man is no Jotun. He is a pale as you or I."

"Your Highness, he is a filthy Jotun, and no amount of magic can disguise this fact."

"I have been with him for months, and I assure you, I would know if he was as you say he is." Loki tried to walk over to Angrboda, but was halted by the hand on his arm. "He is no Jotun."

"Oh, really?" One of the guards holding Angrboda's head down suddenly dealt him a sharp blow at the back of the temple, and before his eyes, Angrboda lost control of his magic and shifted into his natural form. He grew by a further foot and a half, and his horns suddenly arched his and proud over his skull. He fixed his blood-red eyes on Loki, who was simply staring at him in disbelief. But he did not fight back, for he feared what the guards might do to Loki if he did.

"Angrboda?" Loki said faintly. He felt as through he were talking from a very long way away. In fact he no longer felt in control of his body. It was like he was floating over the scene, looking down helplessly.

"Loki, I-"

"Silence you." One of the guards drove his sword handle into Angrboda's mouth, filling it with blood and causing Angrboda to cry out in pain. Loki merely stared, hands cupping his stomach. He did not resist the guard who dragged him to the Bifrost site, who held him tightly as they travelled back to Asgard, who threw him onto a horse and held him tightly as they went back to the palace.

All he could see was the monster that Angrboda was now. 

He felt as though his heart would break.

The guard dragged him to the throne room, where Odin was waiting. Behind him, he could hear Angrboda follow, but he did not turn his head. He didn't want to think about what he would do is he saw the Jotun behind him. he focused on his father, who was dressed in his finest and carried his staff.

"Loki, you are home." He said. Loki only nodded. Odin frowned, expecting a smart response, but Loki was still feeling like he was out of his body. "I see that the guards have also captured the Jotun who has been seducing you for the last few years, and has held you captive."

"I wasn't captive." Loki murmured. Odin ignored him. Instead, he walked to where Angrboda was kneeling, staring at the floor. He put the butt of his staff underneath Angrboda's chin to raise it up so he could look into his eyes. Angrboda looked up slowly, eyes burning with intense hatred.

"You have defiled a Prince of the Nine Realms." Odin said. Angrboda's face gave nothing away. "You taken what does not belong to you and sullied it. You have made him bear children, you have stolen time away from him, time which could have been better spent preparing for a life in servitude to the King of Asgard as his advisor."

"Loki belongs to no one." Angrboda hissed. It was a true hiss, one only Jotun could do, and Odin shivered despite himself. "Loki is Loki, belonging to no person, only to himself. I have taken nothing that was not freely given."

"Are you saying that a Prince of Asgard willingly whored himself to a Jotun? To one of his greatest enemies?" Odin laughed cruelly. "I sincerely doubt that."

"I did not know he was a Jotun when I went to him!" Loki whirled around suddenly. He looked furious. "I did not know! He concealed his skin from me, his very being! But he did not rape me, not take what I instead gave to him of my own free will! He is innocent of those charges!"

"Silence!" Odin roared. He glared at his son, whilst Angrboda stared at Loki with anguished eyes. But Loki could not look at him.

The Hall rang with Odin's roar, and everyone stood still for an instant. Finally, Odin turned and walked back to his throne. He sat down before he announced "Angrboda of Joutnheim, you will be remanded in the dungeons until your trial."

"Father-"

"You shall not have representation, nor shall a member of this court plead in your defence. It is up to you to keep yourself alive. Take him away."

"Father." Loki said. He walked up to his father, who did not look at him. " _Please_."

But he did not know what he was pleading for.

Odin did not look at Loki. Loki could not look as Angrboda was dragged away, his own red eyes fixed on his mate. 

"Loki, go to your rooms. Your spawn need to see you."

"Father." Loki whispered.

" _Go._ " Odin turned his head slightly and fixed Loki with an eye brimming with loathing. "I cannot stand the sight of you."

Loki licked dry lips and backed away, his sightless eyes fixed on Odin. He came to the door and only then did he turn his back, flying out of the room and towards his own quarters. He burst through the door to find his sons playing on the hearth rug by the fire, and Thor sitting in a chair reading. He stood up when he saw Loki, wearing his cloak of feathers.

"Loki?" he said. Loki's face was pale, his cheeks sunken in, making his eyes huge. And he was visibly pregnant, his belly emerging from the opening in the cloak.

"Mama!" Fenrir said and ran to Loki, flinging his arms around him. Jormungandr also came over and slithered around his shoulders, licking his face in greeting. But all Thor could see was the blankness of Loki's eyes, and the way his thin lips trembled.

"Loki?" Thor asked again softly. He came over to Loki and put a gentle hand on his arm, and Loki turned his wide eyes to him.

"Thor." He said quietly. That was the only thing he said, before suddenly bursting into tears and sinking down to the floor, cradling his children close.

His heart had broken.

 

 

*********

 

 

Angrboda shifted in his cell and turned his eyes to the shimmering wall, looking at the other person standing in the light. He smirked softly and thumped his head against the wall.

"I did not do it to confuse you." He said.

Loki said nothing, but continued to look at him. The guard he bribed at the door kept his head firmly away.

"At first, it was so you would not be scared. But when we first cam together, it was so you would not look at me with disgust."

Loki finally shifted, and opened dry lips. "Was it fun to you, to deceive me so?"

Angrboda shook his head. "No. It was so I could continue to look into your eyes and see something you held affection for."

"You are an enemy." Loki did not raise his voice. He did not shout or scream. Instead he spoke in a soft whisper. Angrboda would have preferred the shouting. "You knew who I was and you still chose to be with me. Why? What could you have possibly gained from fucking the Prince of Asgard?"

"Is it so impossible to think that I wanted you for you?"

Silence. Loki wet his lips and tried to speak but found the words dying in his throat.

"Loki, I did not want to deceive you. But I knew that if you knew the truth, you would not come back. And I could not bear to be parted from you."

"You say you love me, but how could you, when you kept a secret of this magnitude from me?" Loki said despairingly. He came closer to the wall, and now Angrboda could see he had tears in his eyes. "I deserved to know the truth."

"Would you have come back, knowing that the father of your children was an enemy of your world?"

"I would have wanted you to trust me in turn!"

Angrboda smiled softly, remembering an argument that now seemed to be so long ago. "I love you. I trust you."

Loki gasped wetly. He put a hand to the wall, but then jumped back as he was shocked. He looked at Angrboda and a tear slipped down his cheek.

"Don't cry. Don't cry." Angrboda whispered.

"You will die." Loki said. "They will kill you. You have to plead innocent! I will back you up, I promise. You can live, please trust me!"

"I do."

"Then please, I need you. Our children need you." Loki put his face into his hands and his shoulders heaved. "You have to live. I need you to live."

"I shall try." Angrboda said, and looked at his beloved who his own tear glazed eyes.

When Loki went back to his rooms, he went to Thor and fell at his feet, clutching his ankles. He looked at Thor with his wide black eyes and, for the last time, begged for his help. "Save him!" He begged. "Save him for me!"

Thor tried, and went to Odin, pleading for his brothers sake, his nephews sake. But Odin had been to Angrboda first, and when he explained to Thor what he had said, Thor knew he could do nothing. 

The day of the trial, Angrboda stood before the court of Asgard in chains, and looked Odin dead in the eye.

"Angrboda, you have been charged with defilement of a Prince of the Realms, capturing and keeping a free being, and fathering children in an interspecies union. How do you plead?"

Angrboda took a deep breath, and looked at Loki, who was standing by his mother. He gave a small, sad smile.

"Guilty of all charges."

The court roared, and Frigga suddenly had to support Loki, who's knees had given out. He moaned and put his head in his hands, and beside him, Thor gritted his teeth and kept his council.

"In two days hence, you shall be taken to the training fields, where you shall be executed by beheading." Odin said and Angrboda was dragged from the rooms to jeers and mocking slurs. He closed his eyes and drove down his terror, for he knew that he had done the right thing.

Frigga supported Loki to his rooms, where Thor followed. Loki laid down on his bed with his children and put his back to Thor. When Thor reached over to touch his shoulders, Loki turned to Thor and hissed at him "I shall never ask for help from you again! You traitor!" Thor left the rooms and went straight to his mother, whom he then told everything too. When she asked why he did not do anything like Loki has asked, Thor answered,

"Because Father had already gone to Angrboda and made a bargain. Angrboda would plead guilty to all charges and in return, Loki would get to keep his baby and his children. They would remain Princes of Asgard and in line to the Throne."

Thor spent the night weeping with his mother.

In two days, the whole of Asgard gathered to the training grounds, where the traitor and Jotun Angrboda would be executed. Loki stood on his balcony, his children by his side. Thor held his brother up by the elbows, and Loki leaned back against his chest, taking strength from his oldest friend even thought he still was to talking to Thor. Jormungandr held his brother in his arms.

Angrboda walked out on trembling legs. His face was hard and unyielding, even when he saw the axe. He did not flinch when the people threw rotten vegetables, he did not crumble when they screamed at him. He was strong, and remained so as he knelt in front of the executioner.

"Angrboda of Jotunheim, do you have anything to say before you die?" Odin asked.

In Thor's arms, Loki whispered "Mercy, mercy." Over and over again.

Angrboda shook himself and turned to Odin. "Tell him the truth." 

Odin went white with fury and gestured to the executioner. Jormungandr turned Fenrir's head to his shoulder.

Angrboda laid his head on the block and closed his eyes. He thought of a happier time, with Loki in his arms. He prayed for forgiveness, for Loki's happiness, for his children joy and for his baby's safety.

He prayed for peace.

 

 

***********

 

 

When Loki gave birth three months later, it was in the dead of night, with only his sons as witnesses. Nobody had seen him since he had fled into his rooms.

He gathered the babe into his arms, and nearly wept, for she was a corpse, and he was convinced he had given birth to a dead baby. But suddenly she moved and yawned, and her black eyes fixed on his face, now restored to its former self. His eyes glittered green.

"She is alive." He whispered. Jormungandr slithered close and Fenrir crept to his shoulder to look at her.

"Is this her magic?" Fenrir whispered. Loki nodded.

"What is her name?" Jormungandr asked. Loki panicked, having not picked out a name, when a thought floated through his mind. 

'Hela.'

"Her name is Hela."

 

 

**********

 

 

Hela's childhood, initially happy, ended up being a lonely one. Once daylight touched her skin, she turned into a plump baby, with whispy black hair and the black eyes that Loki had supported for 12 months. It was only in darkness when she changed to her corpse-like state, and even though she was powerfully magical, this was once thing she could not change.

She lost two brothers before the age of 6, and would often spend a lot of time by herself when Fenrir left, wandering the gardens and crying for him. She had been as close to him as could be, and even thought she also missed Jormungandr, she had barely known him when he left.

Even thought she was the first Princess of Asgard for some time, she did not have friends. Her magic, so unusually powerful, was also cursed, because she could see death. she knew when someone was going to die, she knew when someone had died, and, before she learnt the art of politics, she had an unfortunate habit of telling people this right off the bat. It was only when she had been driven away from the fifth group of young girls in tears when Loki had found her and taken her in his arms, wiping her tears with his sleeve and crooning soft assurances into her loose black curls (his hair. He straightened it, she left it natural).

"They hate me!" she sobbed. 

"They are stupid young women, who don't know a good thing when it's in front of them."

"I just want friends."

"Oh, I know darling." He tipped her back to look into his face, and smiled gently. She reached up and traced his lips, which he then bit gently, causing her to squeal with laughter. She had a delightful laugh. "I know you are lonely, but you must not tell people about your magic straight away. Let them get to know you first."

She frowned, wrinkling her nose at him. "But then I will be telling them a lie!"

"No, simply omitting the truth. There is a crucial difference between the two."

"But you are always telling me not to lie!"

Loki sighed and settled back against the tree, fully pulling his little girl into his lap. "I do tell you this, but only because you are a child, and you must not get into the habit of telling lies."

Hela tilted her head as she thought about what her mama had said, then said slyly "Does that mean I can tell lies when I am grown up?"

Loki laughed and rubbed her head, making her laugh in turn and bat at his hands. "We'll come to that when you are grown up! In the mean time, tell people sparingly, and just enjoy being a child."

Hela settled herself against her mama and both watched the sun set. Loki heaved a sigh and stood up, keeping his daughter in his arms. "Let's go and see Sleipnir. He'll be happy to see us!"

"Yes!" Hela crowed and bounced in his arms, happy to go and see her remaining brother and spend time with him. If she was lucky, she would get to ride him with her mama, and that was always fun to do.

But despite how much her mama tried to make her life enjoyable, Hela was still lonely. She was shunned, simply by being the daughter of Loki, and this did not help the situation when it became known how she looked in the dark. The first time this happened amongst a crowd, people screamed and ran and Hela stood still in disbelief, before being swept into her mama's arms and born back to her room. There, Loki held her as she cried and cried, and Thor stood guard by the door in case someone got it into their minds to do harm to the Princess. But no one came for her.

Thor adored his niece. He would play tag with her in the garden, letting her catch his legs before he swept her up, enjoying her laugher as she wrapped arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. He could rub his scruff against her skin, and revel in her squeals. Whenever there were balls and dances, Thor would always dance with his niece, first holding her in his arms and waltzing slowly, and then when she got older and taller holding her as a women, putting the other dancers to shame. 

Loki would watch by the sidelines with a heavy heart, wishing that Thor would actually be the role he was playing, and yet knowing that this was impossible.

Hela grew to be almost impossibly beautiful. She had pale white skin, with hair that curled slightly and wide black eyes. It was a face that attracted a lot of attention, both good and bad. She wore her hair loose, with simple white flowing dresses and very little jewellery, and the eyes followed her. She had a lovely smile and when she watched her father and uncle train in the grounds with a book in her lap, there would always be a group of young men sitting below her with besotted experssions on their faces. They seemed to forget what happened to her when the darkness touched her skin.

Hela paid them no attention, and simply watched her mama and uncle dance around each other. She wished that they would simply drop the ruse and get together. But even she knew that it was impossible in the current circumstances.

She grew up in luxury and constant scrutiny, and learnt about ruling through subterfuge, sinking into the background during her grandfathers meetings sewing or reading. But she listened, and learned.

People would often ask when she would be married off, to make a political alliance. But Hela knew she would never be married.

She knew what she was destined for.

And it came for her when she was 16.

 

 

*********

 

 

It was a sunny day. People of the court lounged around the Great Hall gossiping generally being as pointless as possible. Loki had barricaded himself in his rooms after a public fight with Thor, and was currently working as powerful as he could, trying to perfect a sleeping spell so that he could drug Thor in the middle of a banquet and adequately humiliate him. Hela, recognising mania when she saw it, had secreted herself in the rafters above peoples heads. Thus, she had the best view when her world started to crumble, and she lost her girlhood and started to become a woman.

The first instance of change was when the guards at the doors were shoved out of the way, and the crowd got successively quieter the closer to the throne the being got. Hela frowned and leaned over her rafter, putting down her book and crawling so that she had a better view. She concealed a gasp when she saw what was coming towards the throne.

It was a dog, as tall as a man. It had long flowing black fur and a proud head, with large pricked ears and a huge mouth that was currently held in a grin. It's eyes were hell-fire, rolling and never stopping. People back away when it came to them, and not a few women fainted. Hela herself was entranced.

The dog stopped in front of Odin and bowed, still grinning. It then stood up and looked him in the eyes.

"Greetings, Odin All-Father. I am Cerberus Alpha, bearing a message from the King and Queen of Hades."

Odin unstuck his throat and nodded to the dog in return. "Greetings in return Cerberus Alpha. And greetings to the King and Queen. Relay your message to us."

The dog licked his lips and grinned wider. "The Queen of Hell will be retrieved in a week. She will be restored to her kingdom, where she will reign for eternity in reverence and power."

Odin went white. The court erupted into loud voices. Hela leaned back against the wall, a hand on her beating heart. She knew this day would come, she had known since she was a little girl, but faced with the reality, she suddenly felt sick with nerves.

Cerberus Alpha gave one final, awful grin at Odin and turned and walked away. But he stopped when he was under Hela and raised his head. When she looked down, he winked at her and then moved off, trotting till he got to the Bifrost and then jumping through his self made portal back to him home.

Hela hopped down from the rafters and landed lightly on her feet, before racing towards the rooms she still shared with her father. She ignored the banging on the door and went in, immediately ducking when her mother threw a dagger in her direction, not knowing it was her.

"Mama, it's me." She said. She pulled the dagger out of the door and went to her mama, who immediately wrapped her in his arms as an apology.

"I heard a commotion in the Great Hall." Loki said, sitting down. Hela settled herself on the table, being careful not to knock over anything. "Has someone done something scandalous?"

"No, nothing like that." She smiled as Loki swept her hair back from her face and pinned it back using a comb. She realised that she would miss this, and tears filled her eyes.

"Darling, what's the matter?" Loki asked. He cupped her chin, and Hela gave him a trembling smile.

"They're coming for me." She whispered. Loki went cold.

"Who?"

"Hell is coming for me."

It showed, perhaps, what a strange family that they were, because Loki immediately relaxed and pulled his daughter into his arms. She collapsed into his lap and started to sob into his shoulder.

"My Queen," he whispered into her hair. "My little Queen, your Majesty, my beautiful daughter Queen."

She giggled wetly in his arms, and then sat back as he pushed the hair from her face. She smiled at him and he blinked back tears. This was his last child, and she was going to be leaving.

"When are you leaving?" he asked. 

"In two days."

Loki's stomach dropped, but he concealed this and stood up suddenly, causing Hela to whoop in surprise and then laugh as he danced her around the room. 

"We must get your trousseau packed. A wardrobe fit for a Queen."

Hela was still a young girl, and she clapped her hands in delight at the thought of new clothes. Loki smiled at her, and started to build up the memories in his mind for when he would say goodbye to his daughter.

Two days later, the court of Asgard gathered, and many young girls had been dressed up in their finest, convinced that they would be the ones that would be chosen to be Queen. Loki stood by his father, His daughter by his side. She was dressed in a dress of darkest blue, with silver combs in her hair. Her pitch black eyes watched the crowd, and she grinned with her father at the young girls who had so spurned her as a child, now about to be disappointed.

The crowd quietened when Odin sat down on his throne and Heimdall walked through the door, striding up to the throne and bowing.

"Your Majesty's, may I present Hades and Persephone, King and Queen of the Realm of Hades." He stood back, and the crowd, and the Royal family craned forward.

The door had been barricaded by three enormous dogs, each identical. Hela recognised Cerberus Alpha, and as he winked at her and gave her a grin, she smiled back, recognising that the others must be his brothers, Cerberus Beta and Cerberus Omega. Together they made the Gatekeepers of Hades. They watched the couple walking up to the throne, as did all of Asgard, for they commanded the eyes of everyone.

The man was very tall, very very tall, as tall as Loki and Thor themselves. His skin was ice pale, and his black hair was shoulder-length and very straight, and he wore robes black as night, and in the Greek style, attached at the shoulder with brooches made of platinum, for he was also the Rich One. His crown was a simple silver band across his forehead, and his thin colourless lips were bent in a smirk. He had deep red eyes, and they swept the hall, judging everyone and moving on in a second. He had his arm crooked, and Persephone held her hand in there, her eyes fixed only on the throne.

She was a different to him as was possible, with tanned brown skin. She was shorter, coming up to his shoulders, and she wore green robes that swept about her feet. Her long brown hair was loose and tumbled from her head in thick waves, and she had bright green eyes that danced with laughter set in a kind, round face. Her crown was made of gold and diamonds, and sat neatly on her head, held in place by her thick locks. She wore a simple gold ring one her marriage finger, as Hades wore one on his. Even though it was currently winter on Midgard, Persephone had fought her mother for her freedom long ago, and so lived with her beloved husband the year round.

They stopped in front of the throne, and both of them bowed, although not as low as one might expect. They were far older than Odin, and would live for long after he died as well.

"Greetings, Odin All-Father." Hades said. His voice was deep and melodious, and many of the women (and a few of the men) immediately leaned in closer so as to hear him better.

"Greetings in return, Hades and Persephone." Odin said. Loki, who had his hand on his daughters shoulder, felt her take a deep breath and straighter her back. He tightened his grip on her and saw Persephone smile wider at them.

"We have come for the Queen, for her to take her rightful place in Hell." Hades said. He no longer looked around, but was also looking at Hela. His smirk had become a gentle smile.

"I have been informed of it." Odin replied, and Loki concealed an inappropriate snort as he saw Cerberus Alpha and Beta cough with laughter at the back. Cerberus Omega shot them an annoyed look.

"Is she ready?" Persephone asked. Her voice, in contrast to her husbands, was as if one was hearing the winter wind. Flowing, but normal, not a light and airy as one wood expect from a goddess of spring.

"I should hope so." Loki muttered, and gave his daughter a pointed look when she turned her head to glare at him. It had been two days of solid arguments.

"Would you be so kind as to reveal the identity of the Queen to us?" Frigga asked. Hades frowned in confusion.

"She should know herself."

At this, the girls in the hall who had hoped to be the Queen went sulky with disappointment, and Hela straightened her back and then walked forward. She kept the gaze of Hades, trying to appear as regal as possible. It was a bit of a anti-climax when she therefore tripped over the front of her dress and fell down the last few steps, landing in Hades arms to raucous laughter. Her face buried red with embarrassment, and she was about to apologise, when she realised that Hades was still holding her, and that he was chuckling gently, Persephone grinning at her by his side.

"I must say, that was quite an entrance." Persephone said. Hades helped Hela to her feet and she brushed herself off, still blushing.

"I didn't mean for it to go like that." Hela muttered. Hades released her and she stood back. But Persephone came to her and threw her arms around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug.

"It is so good to finally meet you." She whispered into Hela's ear. Hela stood frozen until she to put her arms around her and hugged Persephone back. "I have been looking forward to this day for a long time."

"I hope I do not disappoint." Hela said when she was released. She looked at the both of them, and they in turn looked at their new colleague. She was their equal, and like them, would be around for longer than anyone else in the Hall.

"Her?!" Their bubble was broken by one of the girls, a particularly vicious bitch who had been one of Hela's chief tormentors, shrieked. Hela closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, before whirling around.

" _Me._ " She said. But this time, she used her natural magic, and the Hall was plunged into freezing temperatures and darkness. Hela changed appearance before their eyes, becoming a corpse. Her power, never fully revealed, caused the light to flicker and lessen. This was the power of the Queen of Hell, one who regularly consorted with death. She was the most powerful of the children of Loki, and he stood in awe of his daughter. The girl fainted before Hela, and she released her spell. The sun cam back, she changed, but now people knew that she was greater than them all.

"I hope that you have everything you need." Odin said faintly from the throne. Frigga was sitting on the arm, keeping herself upright, and Thor was none too subtly clutching the back. Only Loki stood strong. This was his daughter, he would never be afraid of her.

"Indeed." Hades said. He looked at the throne, and nodded his head. Turning around, he walked back down the hall, but stopped and turned back. "I would extend an invitation to the second Prince, to come with us."

"Why?" Odin asked.

"He is this Queens mother, and she is still young. It would be good of her to learn her duties with her mother at her side, until he is certain she can rule by herself."

"Thank you." Hela whispered to him. He smiled at her and Persephone put her hand in the crook of her arm, the better to lead her away. 

Loki looked at his mother, who nodded her head, and then felt Thor put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing briefly and then letting go. He too walked down the steps and came to the party, taking his daughters other hand. Together, they made their way to the exit, where Hela's luggage sat. It was the work of a moment for Loki to spell his own luggage to him, and Hades and Persephone got on the backs of Cerberus Beta and Omega, with Alpha at the front.

"You should ride a horse." Hades suggested. Hela whirled to her mama.

"I think Sleipnir would be honoured to do this for you." He assured his daughter.

He was right. Once it had been explained, Sleipnir bowed low and allowed his sister to get onto his back. Loki rode his own mount, and all together, they followed Hades and Persephone into the kingdom that Hela would now rule.

 

 

*********

 

 

Some years later, Loki rode down the Bifrost alone. He was greeted at the stables by Thor.

"She is a Queen now." Loki said, and started to cry.

He was now utterly alone.

 

 

*********

 

 

Hell was not dark, nor dank, nor horrible. Instead, Hela found a place of cool dry stone, with a castle of obsidian built into the rock. The people who passed through before going on to their respective paradises stayed as long as the sins of their past lives would allow, but they were not ghosts, but people of solid flesh, who had their own lives. Hela ruled fairly, as she had seen of Hades and Persephone, who became her best friends. She spent many summers with them, and they in turn spent many seasons with her.

She grew to a woman of 25, and stopped there. She was as beautiful as a dagger, with painfully stunning features. Many men who passed through her kingdom grew to be in love with her, and she did take lovers. But she would never take a husband, for her duty prevented that, and she had seen what a broken heart had done to het mother.

She visited her siblings often. She had that freedom now. But she did not interfere with Midgard, but let it play out it's own story.

When babies started passing through, with signatures that she recognised as being part of her family, she knew something terrible was happening to her mother. She could not care for her own brothers and sisters, but gifted them to the motherless women who had wanted children, knowing that they would be cared for. She cried for her mother, and hoped that one day Loki would finally be happy.

So when she reached out her magic, and felt that her mama was once again pregnant, and that the baby was also Thor's, she quickly asked Hades and Persephone to manage her kingdom, packed her luggage, and went to Midgard, to where her brothers were staying. She appeared in their kitchen, causing Liesle to scream and drop a pan full of pasta.

"I'm so sorry." Hela said. Liesle ignored the pasta and yelled to her husband, correctly assuming that this was the sister she had never met. She introduced herself, and was delighted by the fact that Hela in turn knew who she was.

"Sister!" Fenrir greeted and hugged her tightly, spinning her around.

"Put me down!" She smacked his shoulders and he released her, laughing. "I have important news."

"I'll get Slip." Liesle said and left, coming back into the room with Sleipnir who was covered in paint. Hela commanded them to sit down.

"Mama is on Midgard." She said. Her brothers gaped at her.

"He is?" Fenrir whispered. Hela grinned.

"Even better. He's pregnant, and it's Thor's."

There was an explosion of noise, as each sibling came together and literally started dancing in a circle. They were all so happy that Loki and Thor had finally pulled their heads out of their collective backsides and come together. Fenrir soon rushed off to send a message to Jormungandr, and Liesle got on the computer, booking tickets. Hela sat back and explained to her siblings, when they all got there about the other babies. There was sadness, but also irrepressible joy.

Hela had been lonely for her entire life. She had accepted this, but always wished for something more. And when she saw Liesle lead Loki to the sofa, and her brothers clamouring around their mother, she realised that she finally had the one thing in her life she had always wanted.

A family.


	5. All Together Now...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family, once apart, now together.

It's an odd thing, Bucky decides, watching the blond women guide Loki to the sofa. Loki looks to be their own age, and yet here stand his grown up children. He says so to Steve, who just nods, keeping his eyes on the visitors. The other Avengers are either looking at the visitors with varying degrees of mistrust or confusion, or are looking at Loki, who just cries and cries. Fenrir comes over and catches Loki's other side, helping his wife set him down gently on the couch.

"Who-" Loki gulps and tries again to ask. "Who...are you?" he says. Liesle smiles and strokes his hair.

"My name is Liesle. I am Fenrir's wife." She says. Bucky can hear that her accent is German, not strong, but not faint either. Fenrir has the same accent, Sleipnir has the accent of Asgard, and both Jormungandr and Hela are accentless, a side effect of living as they do.

"Fenrir's...wife?" Loki gasps and turns to Fenrir, confusion in his expression. But when he sees Fenrir he starts to cry again, and Fenrir willingly folds himself into Loki's arms. Bucky turns back to the kitchen and then jumps, for the most unusual of Loki's children has changed back to his preferred form, and there is a 15 foot snake in the kitchen, scales iridescent in the light.

Tony is not so quiet about the change.

"Holy shit!" he swears and steps backwards rapidly, in danger of falling over the coffee table until Pepper catches his arm. Hela sniggers and lets Jormungandr slither up her arms until he sits beside her face at her shoulder, occasionally drinking out of the same coffee cup until she slaps him on the nose. He hisses at her and then slithers down to wait with Sleipnir, who had settles himself against the kitchen table, watching the scene with his old eyes.

Thor is transfixed by the sight, and Bucky can see that he too has tears in his eyes. But he makes no move to go to Loki, knowing that the mother needs to connect to his children after so long. The Avengers continued to watch, stunned by the open display of emotion that Loki is showing. Only Steve and Bucky knew Loki as well as Thor, and thus had seen the emotion Loki was capable of displaying. But they too were stunned by the fact that Loki simply did not stop crying.

"Mama." Sleipnir came over, Jormungandr slithering behind him. Sleipnir put a hand on his shoulder (Bucky saw that he had six working fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot. His eight limbs turned into polydactyl limbs in human form) and stroked it, bringing Loki's face to meet his eyes.

"Mama, we're home now. And we are all safe."

"Thor told me you left." Loki whispered. He brought Sleipnir's face to his and kissed his cheeks, and then turned his head to kiss Jormungandr's head when he slithered across Loki's shoulders. "I didn't know if you were safe."

"I went to Fenrir and Liesle. They have taken me in." 

"And you Jormungandr?" Loki turned to his snake son, who rubbed his head against Loki's cheek. "What do you do?"

"I have a house in Norway. But otherwise I spend my time in the oceans. It's a good life."

"The World Serpent." Natasha says under her breath. Helps hums in agreement next to her and Natasha side-eyes her. Natasha knows that this might be the only woman in the world capable of beating her in anything, and she doesn't want to make an enemy of a Queen of Death. But to get surprise Hela hands her and Clint two full cups of coffee, and smiles at them. Her black eyes don't seem to be so other-worldly now, but Natasha is still under the (correct) impression that this women knows every little thing about her life. And she doesn't care.

(In a conversation later, Hela will say to Natasha "You have a good heart. That is enough for a pure soul.")

"And you?" Loki turned to Fenrir. "Are you alright? Are you set?"

Fenrir laughed. "Mama, I'm set for life. I own one of the largest lumber and steel companies in Germany."

Tony nearly spat out his coffee when he put the pieces together, and recognised Lokisson Steel for what it is. He's  _used_ some of that steel in his suits. It's some of the best quality steel that he knows. Bruce patted him on the back with a grin on his face.

(He figured it out fairly quickly.)

Hela finally comes over to Loki and settles down beside Liesle, handing her a cup of the strongest coffee she could make. Liesle was the only member of Loki's family who drank coffee so thick you could stand a spoon up in it. 

"My Queen." Thor finally came over and took Hela's hand, kissing it and then her cheek. She smiled at him, glad that she could see her uncle again. 

"Hello Thor. About time you pulled your head out of your arse and actually admitted you love my mama." She said, smiling sweetly. Thor flushed red, and Bucky laughed as he settled against Steve on the opposite couch.

"Hela!" Loki said, face also going red. But he pulled his daughter into his arms and kissed her hair, and she grinned in delight. She had so missed her mama.

"So that's the family." Pepper murmured to Betty, who nodded as well. Loki had rarely mentioned his children, probably due to the fact that it was so painful for him to do so. He had thought for so many years that he would never get to see them again, and now they were here, in his arms.

"How did you know?" Loki asked. He was gazing at all of his children with stars practically coming out of his eyes.

However the reaction he got was not one he expected. Hela suddenly bit her lip and looked at the others. Jormungandr nodded his head slowly and slid closer around Loki's shoulders whilst Hela stood up in front of him and Sleipnir went to join her. Fenrir sat on the back of the couch, feet on the cushions and Liesle between his legs. All of their faces are grave, and when Hela opens her mouth, she starts and stops for a while.

Eventually she said "Mama, your children by the Chitauri all came to me."

Bucky thinks that the air has been sucked out of the room for a second, as every set of eyes zoom to Hela. She stands tall despite the attention.

"My babies?" Loki whispered. Thor put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard, and Loki's hand came up to cover it.

"The came to me. All of them. I gave them to the women in my Kingdom who do not have children but want them. They are safe, and healthy, and very very happy."

Tony looked at Loki, who didn't cry. Instead, a single tear tracked down his face and lingered in his chin, before dripping in to his lap. He glanced at Pepper, who was nibbling at her lip before looking at him with worry in her eyes. But Loki didn't lose control. He merely closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

"I think I'll go to my rooms now." Loki said quietly and stood up, closing his hand around Thor's, who willingly came along. He kissed his children again and then walked softly to the elevator, Thor's arms wrapped around his shoulders and his own hands caressing his belly. 

The elevator dinged softly, and then it was the Avengers and their respective others, eyeing the demigods who were in turn eyeing them back.

"Uh..." Tony said finally. He stepped forward and opened his arms wide, but the grin was wobbly, and Pepper stepped with him to offer emotional support.

"Welcome to the Tower."

The children of Loki all grinned at the same time, and Bucky wondered, as he sat in Steve's arms, exactly what they were letting themselves in for.

But one thing was for sure. Loki's protection had suddenly grown by 4, and they were all exceptionally powerful.

For they would do anything for their beloved, finally reunited mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are 4 more stories in this verse, then it's on to my first large multi-chaptered story for this genre. Hint: the story is called 'Castle of Glass' and is AU, but featuring all of my usual pairings.


End file.
